Ash's Fight in the Divine Region
by Crusherboy93
Summary: Ash returns home from the Alola Region and finds out that Gary is missing and sets out to find him, with the help of Old friends and New friends. Upon arriving, Ash sees that the region Gary went missing in was under the control of an evil Organization, so Ash decides to form a Rebellion in the Divine Region and he, along with his friends, began Guerrilla warfare to free the region
1. Chapter 1

**|X| TIME SKIP**

" **Pokémon move** "

' _Thoughts_ '

" _Telepathy_ "

* * *

It was a beautiful day in the world of Pokémon, the sun was shining, Pokémon were awake, and people were out and about. A young trainer with Black hair and a Pikachu on his shoulder was walking along Route 1 toward a Small town called Pallet Town to visit his mother and his good friend Professor Oak. The trainer then rubbed his Pikachu's head as he said, "It's good to be back buddy, after spending all that time in Alola has really made me miss home." Pikachu then said, "Pikachu!" and the boy watched a group of Pidgeys and Pidgeottos fly by. Suddenly, a floating Pokédex flew by took pictures of the Flock. The trainer then said, "RotomDex, you already had pictures of Pidgeys and Pidgeottos." RotomDex looked back at the trainer and said, "I'm sorry Ash, I just had to take a picture, I'm so glad you let me tag along when you returned home with you." Ash smiled and said, "Well, I'm just happy to be home." Ash, Pikachu, and RotomDex then started back into Pallet Town. When Ash arrived at his house, he saw a familiar figure leaning on the fence. Ash smiled and said, "It's been a long time since I've seen you John." The figure stood up and crossed his arms before he said, "It's good to see you too Ash." Ash then walked up to John and the two shared a friendly handshake and tried to outmatch the other in strength. After their little match, Ash and John walked into Ash's home. Ash then said, "Mom, I'm home." Just then, a Mr. Mime walked up to them and said, "Mime, Mr. Mime." Ash smiled and said, "Hey Mr. Mime, is mom home?" Just then, a voice called out and the voice said, "I'm in the kitchen Ash." Ash and John walked into the Kitchen and saw a woman washing dishes. The woman turned around and said, "Welcome home Ash, how was the Alola Region?" and Ash said, "Great, I caught some neat Pokémon, even got an Ultra Beast to join my team." Ash then pulled out an Ultra Ball and said, "Come on out Poipole." When Poipole came out, Ash's mother was surprised, but she gathered herself and said, "Hello Poipole, it's nice to meet you." Poipole made a happy cry, "Poipole!" Ash's Mother then said, "Dinner is about ready, John why don't you stay for dinner?" John smiled and said, "I appreciate it Mrs. Ketchum, thank you." Ash's mother smiled and said, "Lovely, now go and wash up you two, then help set the table." Ash and John nodded their heads and went upstairs to wash up.

 **|X| A FEW MINUTES LATER**

Mrs. Ketchum fixed Basculin Filets with a side Salad and Bread sticks, as the three of them ate their food, John made Pokémon food for Pikachu and Poipole. Ash then said, "I didn't know you know how to make Pokémon food." John looked at Ash and said, "Brock taught me few things while we traveled with him." Ash smiled and said, "Next region I'm going to, you're definitely coming with me." John swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Well, in that case, there's this region I been wanting to go to, the Divine Region. It has a gym leader for every Pokémon type." Ash smiled and said, "Sweet, can't wait to get going." John then said, "Ash, you just got back from the Alola Region, shouldn't you wait a little bit before going on your next journey." Ash told John that he was going to wait. Ash then said, "After the Alola Region, I think I need a break from traveling for a few days." John and Ash's mother were surprised at what Ash said, and John said, "That seems a little too not you, you always want to go on a new journey immediately after you complete one." Ash rubbed the back of his head and said, "Yeah, well, with everything that happened in the Alola Region, I need a break."

 **|X| THE NEXT DAY**

Ash and John decided to visit Professor Oak's Lab and Ranch for Ash to say hi to all of his Pokémon. On the way to Professor Oak's Lab, John asked Ash, "How was the Alola region, I mean did you find a girlfriend?" Ash shook his head and said, "None of those girls were my type, to be honest. But they were friendly, I am going to miss them" Suddenly, the two friends heard a voice call out, "Ash, John!" and when they turned around, they saw a certain Bluenette and her partner Piplup that they were both familiar with and were happy to see her, Ash most of all. Ash then said, "Hey Dawn!" when Dawn caught up to Ash and John, she immediately hugged Ash and high-fived John and Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and played with Piplup. Dawn then said, "It's so good to see you guys." John then said, "it's good to see you too Dawn, how was Jhoto?" Dawn looked at John and said, "It was good, I almost won the grand festival, but Zoey beat me." Ash then said, "Damn, well, there's always next year." Dawn then said, "Yeah, but I decided to travel the Kanto Region for a while to take a break from Contests, and I figured I visit Professor Oak's Lab while I'm here." Then Ash said, "What a coincidence, we were just heading to Professor Oak's Lab." Dawn smiled and said, "That is a coincidence, let's go." Ash and John nodded their heads and the three of them continued walking to Professor Oak's Lab. Meanwhile, in a region far away from the Seven Core Regions, a young man in a Lab coat was running through a Forest with his Eevee, with police behind him. The Man then said, "Eevee, use **Shadow Ball**." Eevee turned around and used **Shadow Ball** at the ground and the Police officers were stopped in their tracks and lost the man and his Eevee. Back with Ash, John, and Dawn, they just arrived at Professor Oak's Lab and Ash knocked on the door. After a few moments of waiting, the door opened to reveal a man in his early twenties and he said, "Hey Ash, how have you been?" and Ash said, "I've been good Tracy, how about you and the professor?" Tracy's face shoed a face of sadness before he said, "You better come inside you guys, and I'll let the Professor explain the situation." Ash looked at John and Dawn, then led them inside.

Inside the lab, Ash, John, and Dawn saw that it as a complete mess, papers everywhere, books on the floor, and everything as covered in a film of dust. Ash then saw Professor Oak, he was looking at a map of a region. He began growing a beard, his lab coat was dirty and there was bags under his eyes. When Ash cleared his throat, Professor Oak looked up and said, "Ash my boy, how are you?" Ash noticed that the Professor's voice had a hint of sorrow in it. Ash then asked, "What's wrong Professor, I can tell something is wrong so don't lie to us." Professor sighed and told Ash, John, and Dawn, "It's Gary, he always calls me to tell me how he's doing, but we haven't heard from him in months, I'm starting to get worried about my grandson." When Ash asked Professor Oak where Gary was last, Professor Oak said, "He's in a region called the Divine Region." John then said, "That's the Region I told you about Ash." Ash nodded his head and said, "If Gary went missing, we need to find him." Now John nodded his head and said, "So I take it that your break's over." Ash nodded his head, looked at Professor Oak and said, "Don't worry Professor, we'll find Gary and bring him home." Professor Oak smiled and said, "Thank you Ash, is there anything I can do for you?" John then said, "Why don't you upgrade his carrying capacity?" Ash looked at John and said, "He can upgrade my carrying capacity?" John nodded his head and said, "After catching a certain amount of Pokémon, you can get your carrying capacity upgraded so you can travel with more Pokémon, I did, and I have 18 Pokémon with me right now." Ash then took out his Kalos Pokédex and asked Professor Oak to upgrade his carrying capacity, Dawn did the same thing . Professor Oak nodded his head, took Ash's and Dawn's Pokédexs and walked off.

 **|X| A FEW MINUTES LATER**

Professor Oak returned and handed Ash his Pokédex and Dawn her Pokédex and he said, "It's done, you both can now carry twelve Pokémon with you." Ash and Dawn were confused until John said, "I got mine upgraded twice, they do it by intervals of six." Ash then said, "Oh, okay, thank you professor," and Professor Oak replied, "Not a problem my boy, just bring Gary home." Ash nodded his head and said that he would. Professor Oak then handed John an Xtranseiver and he said, "This Xtranseiver has the functions of all the technology you'd need, you can store your Pokémon, look at the map, and will even work as a portable video phone." John took the Xtranseiver and said, "Thank you Professor." John then looked at Ash and said, "I think you should take your strongest Pokémon with you." Ash looked at John and asked, "Why?" and John replied by saying, "If something's happened to Gary, we'll need some muscle and firepower." Ash then said, "Alright, but who should I take with us, besides Pikachu, that's an obvious choice?" they all thought long and hard about what Pokémon Ash would take until Dawn said, "What about Infernape, he was the strongest fire type you had in Sinnoh." John nodded his head and said, "There's also Krookodile, he's strong, and you also have Sceptile too." Ash nodded his head and said, "So that's four, I want to take at least eight of my strongest Pokémon." John nodded his head and said, "What bout Charizard, we can call Liza and ask her to send Charizard here." Ash nodded his head and said, "I think I should give Professor Sycamore a call and asked him to send me Greninja and Goodra." Then John said, "So that's seven, one more Pokémon." Ash then said, "Lycanroc, a Pokémon I caught in the Alola Region, I'll leave the rest here with you Professor Oak, so we have all eight Pokémon I'll be taking, I'll try contacting you to exchange my Pokémon." Professor Oak nodded his head and Ash then said, "I'm going to call Liza now. See if Charizard came come here to help us." John nodded his head and said, "After which, call Professor Sycamore about Greninja and Goodra." Ash nodded his head and walked over to the phone. John the looked at Dawn and said, "Let's help Ash out." Dawn nodded her head and the two walked outside to gather the Pokémon Ash was going to take with him.

 **|X| A HALF HOUR LATER**

Ash walked outside with three Pokéballs in his hands and saw that John and Dawn got Infernape, Krookodile, Sceptile, and Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder to join his three friends. Ash then said, "Alright you three, come on OUT!" After throwing the three Pokéballs in the air, they opened, and three Pokémon appeared. After catching the Pokéballs, Ash said, "Gang, Meet Lycanroc, Greninja, and Goodra. They are Pokémon I caught after I got done in the regions I met you all in. they will be coming with us on our new Journey in a new Region called the Divine Region. On our journey, we will be looking for information about Gary Oak, the Professor's Grandson, he was last heard from entering the Divine Region." Before Ash could finish, he was hit by a flamethrower from th sky and saw a certain Flame Pokémon that they all knew. Ash stood up and said, "Hey Charizard, it's good to see you buddy." When Charizard landed, he landed right in front of Ash and he grabbed Ash and hugged him. Ash then said, "I'm going on a new Journey and I want you and the other Pokémon here to come with me." Charizard looked at the Pokémon that Ash was going to take with him and Charizard locked eyes with Infernape, and a spark of rivalry formed. Ash, John, and Dawn all sweatdropped and Ash said, "Alright guys, we have a job to do, no fighting amongst ourselves." Charizard and Infernape looked at Ash, then at each other, then back at Ash and they nodded their heads and even shook hands to show that they would work together. Ash breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Alright gang, let's head to the Divine Region and find Gary and compete in the League." John and Dawn nodded their heads as Pikachu and Ash's Pokémon that he was going to take with him cried out in excitement. After recalling all of his Pokémon to their Pokéballs, Ash went back to his house to get his gear. Along the way, Dawn asked Ash, "Can I join you when you go to the Divine Region?" Ash looked at Dawn and said, "Sure, I don't see why not, how about you John?" John looked at Ash and said, "Sure, I mean I was going to head there anyway, it'll be just like old times in Kanto, Jhoto, Hoenn, and of course Sinnoh." Dawn and Ash smiled, and they finally got to Ash's house.

After entering his house, Ash called out to his mother again. When she walked towards the three companions, she had a bag and new clothes in her hands and said, "I take it Professor Oak told you about Gary?" Ash nodded his head and said, "Yes, and I take it that the bag and those clothes are for me?" Ash's Mother nodded her head and said, "Yes, I knew you would change your mind as soon as Professor Oak told you, so I had these readied for when you got back here." Ash's mother then looked at John and Dawn and she said, "I can only assume that you two are going to go with my son." John and Dawn both nodded their heads, causing Ash's Mother to say, "I thought so, in that case John, I add some snacks for the journey and gave you some ingredients for making meals while you're all in the Divine Region and I put some extra cash in your bag, so you can buy more ingredients and supplies for your journey. Dawn, I gave you things I think would help you in Contests." Dawn smiled and thank Ash's mother, who replied, "Think nothing of it my dear, but it's getting late, tell you what, why don't leave in the morning, a good night's sleep can do wonders on your mind." Ash smiled and said, "Right, well then, first we sleep, then the Divine Region to find Gary." John and Dawn nodded their heads in agreement.

 **|X| ONE HOUR LATER**

Ash walks out of the bathroom with his toothbrush in his mouth and saw a sleeping bag on the floor in his room, with John reading a book sitting on it. John looked up to see Ash and said, "I gave my parents a call and they said that it was alright for me to spend the night tonight." Ash smiled, Ash then asked, "What about Dawn?" John told Ash that his mother allowed Dawn to spend the night on the couch, so she wouldn't have to sleep outside tonight." Ash nodded his head and got into his bed and said, "Hey John, do you think we'll be able to find Gary?" John looked at Ash and said, "Ash Ketchum, in all my years of knowing you I never once heard doubt in your voice about a region we haven't been to yet, I'm sure we will fine Gary, now let's get some sleep man, we have a big day ahead of us." Ash nodded his head and they both went to sleep. In their dreams, they were both in a white room and saw each other. John then asked Ash, "Any idea where we are?" Ash shrugged his shoulders and suddenly, they heard a voice say, "Ash, John, what are you doing here?" Ash and John looked behind them and saw Dawn standing behind them. Just then, a bright light appeared and when the light faded after a few minutes, Arceus, the God of all Pokémon. Arceus then said, " _Greetings young Trainers._ " John stepped forward and knelt before Arceus, and he said, "Oh mighty Arceus, God of all things, may I ask what caused you to bring us here." Arceus then said, " _Stand John, and rejoin your two friends._ " John did as he was told and stood up and took a step back. Arceus then said, " _I have come into you're dreams to tell you that you must be on your guard when you are in the divine Region, I cannot see what happens in that Region, my vision is blocked._ " John then said, "Oh man, that's not good, if Arceus can't see into the Divine Region, we're in big trouble." Before Ash and Dawn could speak, Arceus got their attention and said, " _Fear not John, for I have several gifts for the three of you, one gift is being able to communicate with Pokémon with telepathy, as I am doing with you now, but it will look like your Pokémon will be speaking English. My second gift will appear in the morning, for now Rest._ " Soon after Arceus said that, Ash, John, and Dawn all fell and started their own Dreams.

 **|X| THE NEXT MORNING**

Ash, John, and Dawn all got up and as they got everything they needed ready, Pikachu and Piplup ran into the living room. Ash looked at the two Pokémon and asked, "Are you guys ready for the Divine Region?" and to the three trainer's surprise, they all heard Pikachu say, " _You bet we're ready for the divine region._ " Ash, Dawn, and John were all shocked to hear Pikachu say that and Ash said, "Did you just speak English?" Pikachu and Piplup looked at each other, then at the three trainers and they both said, " _You can understand what we're saying?_ " Ash, Dawn, and John all nodded their heads and then Ash realized something and said, "I just realized something, I had a dream last night, and the two of you were in it…" John interrupted Ash by saying, "then after a bright light appeared and faded away, Arceus appeared and told us to be on our guard and said that he gave us the gift to understand Pokémon through Telepathy…" then Dawn finished by saying, "And that there would be another gift being given to us this morning." Everyone was silent until Ash said, "I guess that it wasn't just a dream we had, our minds were joined by Arceus so he can talk to us all at once." John then said, "That seem like the most logical explanation, but that this is so cool." Dawn and Ash smiled and agreed with John. Ash then said, "Okay guys, let's get going, we'll need to board a plane to get to the Divine Region." John and Dawn nodded their heads and the three of them grabbed their things and their Pokémon. Ash then said to his mother, "We're heading out mom." Ash's Mother walked up to the three trainers and gave her son a hug, she then said, "Be careful Ash, and come home safely, with everyone accounted for." Ash nodded his head and said, "I will mom, I'll call you when we get on the ground." Mrs. Ketchum nodded her head, looked at John and Dawn and said, "Make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble." John and Dawn nodded their heads in acknowledgement. Ash then looked at his friends and said, "Alright guys, let's get going." Ash's traveling companions nodded their heads and they walked out the door only to be stopped by the three Legendary Birds; Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. Ash asked the three Legendary Birds, "What are you doing here?" The three Trainers heard Moltres say, " _We were told by Arceus to join the three of you on your journey in the Divine Region._ " The three trainers then heard Zapdos say, " _On our way here, we were trying to figure how we would want to catch us_." Then they heard Articuno say, " _I automatically said that I want you, Dawn Berlitz, to catch me_." Dawn was shocked to hear that Articuno wanted her to catch her. Then Moltres said, " _I know that Pikachu is very Powerful, and would probably have a power Match with Zapdos, so I would like to join you, Ash Ketchum."_ Finally, Zapdos said, " _That leaves me with you, John Bertrand."_ The three trainers were speechless, until Ash said, "So that means that you three are the second gift for us from Arceus." The three Legendry Birds nodded their heads and Ash looked at Dawn and John and he said, "Well guys, let's catch them." John and Dawn nodded their heads and they all pulled out a Pokéball and expanded them. The three trainers then held out the Pokéball in their hands towards the Legendary Birds, who pushed the buttons with their beaks and went inside the Pokéballs. After three shakes and a ding, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos were caught, Causing Dawn, Ash, and John to say, "ALRIGHT, WE CAUGHT THE THREE LEGENDARY BIRDS; ARTICUNO, MOLTRES, AND ZAPDOS!" Ash then said, "I can't believe that we just caught legendary Pokémon." Dawn and John nodded their heads in agreement. Then Dawn said, "It's amazing how well that Legendary Pokémon trust us." Ash looked at Dawn and said, "I think it's because we've saved the world plenty of times." Ash then placed Moltres's Pokéball on his belt and said, "Alright guys, let's get to the Airport and get to the Divine region to find Gary." John and Dawn nodded their heads and the three of them, along with their Pokémon. Dawn then asked Ash, "Hey Ash, where's RotomDex that came with you from the Alola Region?" Ash looked up at the sky and said, "He's staying behind to get more pictures of Pokémon that aren't in the Alola Region."

"I thought I recognized him when he was taking pictures of Mareep." Said a voice from behind Ash, John, and Dawn. When they turned around, they saw a girl in a white dress with blonde Hair and a big hat and what looked like a white Vulpix. Ash smiled and said, "Lillie, it's good to see you, what are you doing here?" Lillie walked up to the group and said, "I was inspired by you to go on a journey in a different Region, since you were from Kanto, I was wondering if I could travel with you." Ash then said, "Sure, you can join us, but we were just about to head to Celadon City and get on a Plane to go to a new Region called the Divine Region to battle in the league there and find a missing friend." Lillie then said, "Oh, Okay, can I still join you?" Ash then said, "I said you can, come on." Lillie smiled and ran to catch up to the others and the four of them continued walking to Celadon City to get on a plane to the Divine Region. Along the way, the group came across a wild Caterpie. Ash then said, "A Caterpie, that takes me back." John nodded his head and said, "I bet, so which of you two wants to catch it?" Dawn and Lillie looked at Ash and John and said, "What?" Ash then said, "I caught a Caterpie and evolved it to a Butterfree, and John caught a Weedle and fully evolved it to a Beedrill, so we're both good." Before Dawn could even say a word, Lillie raised her hand and said, "I want to catch it." Ash then said, "Alright, go for it Lillie." Lillie smile and said, "Alright Snowy, our first battle on a journey, let's make this one good." Snowy nodded her head and jumped in front of the trainers. The Caterpie fired **String Shot** at Snowy and Lillie said, "Dodge it Snowy and use **Powder Snow**." Snowy obeyed, dodged the **String Shot** and used **Powder Snow** , which scored a direct hit, freezing the Caterpie in place. Lillie, seeing her Chance, told Snowy, "Alright Snowy, Use **Dark Pulse** to finish it off." Snowy Obeyed and shot a Dark Pulse at the Caterpie, scoring a direct hit and knocking Caterpie out. Ash then said, "Now Catch it Lillie, use a Pokéball." Lillie nodded her head, pulled out one of her Pokéballs and said as she threw it, "GO Pokéball!" and when the Pokéball hit the Caterpie, it went inside the Pokéball, and after three shakes and a ding, Caterpie was caught. Lillie smiled and when she picked up the Pokéball after walking towards it, she said, "I did it, I caught a Caterpie!" Ash then said, "Alright Lillie, way to go." Dawn then looked at Ash and said, "Ash, you still haven't told us who she is." Ash looked at John and Dawn and said, "Lillie is someone I meant in Alola, she went to the Pokémon school with me. When I first met her, she couldn't touch a single Pokémon, but she eventually got over that and is now able to touch every Pokémon." Dawn smiled and said, "I'm glad that she got over that, and she has full confidence in herself now." Ash nodded his head and looked back at Lillie and said, "Do you want to give Caterpie a name." Lillie looked at Ash, Dawn, and John, then back at the Pokéball her recently caught Caterpie resided in and said, "Silky." Ash smiled and said, "Sounds like a fine name, come one, we should be able to get to Vermillion City before nightfall." John, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads and the four companions continued their walk to Vermillion City, then Celadon City and then the Divine Region.

 **|X| A FEW HOURS LATER**

After arriving in Vermillion City, John pulled out more cash and got plenty of supplies for the journey in the Divine Region while Ash, Dawn, and Lillie waited for him. As Ash petted Pikachu, Lillie played with her new Pokémon and Dawn read a Book sitting next to Ash. Dawn then got Ash's attention and said, "According to this, the Divine Region has all the Pokémon the seven Core Regions have and no new Pokémon, so we shouldn't be surprised by any new Pokémon." Ash smiled and said, "Alright, thanks Dawn." Dawn smiled and said, "No problem Ash, but you never introduced me and that other girl." Ash looked at Lillie and said, "Hey Lillie, come here please." Lillie Stood up with her Caterpie on her shoulder and walked over to Ash and Dawn. Ash then said, "Dawn has just brought a good point, I never got to introduce you two. Lillie, this is Dawn Berlitz, a friend of mine from Sinnoh. Dawn, this is Lillie Harrison, a friend of mine from Alola." Dawn stood up and shook hands with Lillie and she said, "It's nice to meet you." Then Lillie said, "Same, it's nice to meet someone who traveled with Ash before." Dawn smiled and said, "Please, I've only know Ash from when he came to Sinnoh, he's helped me out more times than I can count." Lillie smiled and said, "Same here, I guess it shows that he always helps his friends." That caused Ash to smile and say, "You bet, I care for my friends, both humans and Pokémon." Just then, John returned to the waiting trainers and said, "Alright, I have everything we'll need." Ash nodded his head, stood up and said, "Alright, let's get to Celadon City." Dawn shook her head and said, "It's almost night Ash, I think we should spend the night at the Pokémon Center." Lillie nodded her head and John said, "Sorry my friend, they ladies are right." Ash sighed and said, "Alright, let' go to the Pokémon Center." Dawn smiled and led the group to the Pokémon Center, with Ash lagging behind slightly, he was worried for Gary.

Meanwhile, in the Region far away, the man in the lab coat was in a cave with his Eevee eating berries. The man then said, "I know you want to eat more Eevee, but we need to make sure that the Police don't find us, that means no restaurants." Eevee nodded her head and continued nibbling on the Oran Berry when a Magmar appeared and used **Smokescreen** , causing the cave to get filled and the man in the lab Coat and his Eevee to cough. Suddenly, then man in the Lab coat was grabbed and dragged outside the cave and Eevee was put in a cage. When the man in a lab coat was forced to his knees, Officer Jenny walked up to him and said, "Gary Oak, you are under arrest for Pokémon Napping." Gary then said, "I didn't Poké-nap any Pokémon, that Eevee is my Eevee." Officer Jenny then said, "Likely story, take him away." The two Officers holding Gary dragged off as he said, "Eevee, use **Tackle** to get out of the cage and RUN!" Eevee obeyed Gary, used **Tackle** to get out of the cage, and ran as fast as she could to escape into the woods. Officer Jenny growled and told two officers, "Go find that Pokémon, NOW!" The two officers obeyed and chased off after the Eevee. Officer Jenny then said, "The rest of you, back to base, NOW!" The other Officers obeyed Officer Jenny and they got back in the vehicles, with Gary Oak being put into a truck and they drove off.

Back with Ash and his companions, they just arrived at the Vermillion City Pokémon Center. They asked Nurse Joy for two rooms and Nurse Joy said, "You're just in luck, there are two room left and they are across from each other, while you're here, would you like me to heal any Pokémon that need healing." Lillie placed her Caterpie on the table and said, "My Caterpie please." Nurse Joy took Caterpie and said, "Of course, it shall be a couple of minutes." Lillie nodded her head and Nurse Joy walked into the back with her Chansey. Ash then looked at John and asked for the Xtranseiver. As he handed Ash the Xtranseiver, John asked what he was going to do with it and Ash said, "Since I have that new Pokémon, I'm going to put one of my Pokémon in here." John then said, "How about Charizard, they're both Fire/Flying types." Then Ash said, "True, but I feel he doesn't want that to happen." John then said that Moltres had better Base stats then Charizard, and is a Legendary, causing Ash to say, "Okay, Charizard it is." Ash then placed Charizard in the Xtranseiver and said, "Alright, now that's taken care of, let's do some training." John smiled and said, "I'm up for some pre-sleep training, one on one?" Ash smiled and said, "Sure, why not." Ash then looked at Dawn and Lillie and said, "John and I are going to the training field to do a little one on one training." Dawn nodded her head and said, "We'll be right out when Lillie gets her Caterpie back." Ash nodded his head and led John to the training field.

 **|X| OUTSIDE ON THE TRAINING FIELD**

Ash stood on one side of the field, and John on the other. Ash then said, "I bet you're going to use Zapdos, aren't you?" John smiled and said, "Of course, which means you're going to use Moltres." Ash nodded his head, pulled out Moltres's Pokéball and said, "Moltres, Let's go!" while John said, "Zapdos, I need you're assistance." When the two Pokémon came out, Ash told them, "Moltres, Zapdos, we're going to be doing some training, to prepare you guys for the divine region, so we're doing a one on one with you guys, this ill also help us know what moves you guys know, it that alright with the two of you." Moltres looked at his trainer and said, " _I am okay with that, plus this will help me get use to a human giving me commands_." Then Zapdos said, " _As long as we're not used for personal Glory_." Ash then said, "Of course, we would never think of that, now let's get this battle underway, what moves do you know Moltres." Moltres then told Ash that he knew **Flamethrower** , **Air** **Slash** , **Wing** **Attack** , and **Fire** **Spin**. John then asked Zapdos what moves he knew and Zapdos said, " _I know **Zap** **Cannon** , **Thunder** , **Drill** **Peck** , and **Aerial Ace**._" John looked at Ash and said, "Alright my friend, you may have the first attack." Ash smiled and said, "Alright Moltres, use **Flamethrower**." Moltres opened his mouth and shot flames at Zapdos. John then said, "Dodge and use **Zap Cannon**!" Zapdos obey his new trainer's commands and dodged the flamethrower and fired an Electric Blast like a cannon Ball at Moltres And Ash said, "Dodge and use **Flamethrower** again!" Moltres barely dodged the attack and shot more flames from his mouth at Zapdos, scoring a direct hit. As Zapdos landed on the ground, he held his right wing close, John and Ash both saw that Zapdos was burned. Ash then said, "Alright Moltres, let's wrap this up with an **Air Slash**!" Moltres nodded his head and sent slashes through the air at Zapdos and scored direct hits. When the dust settled, Zapdos looked like to be in pretty rough shape, that was when Ash said, "I think that's enough for the night, we need our rest for tomorrow." John nodded his head and said, "I agree, Zapdos, Return." Zapdos then went into his Pokéball and Moltres into his after Ash recalled him, and the two friends walked back inside of the Pokémon Center to get their Pokémon healed and checked out by Nurse Joy.

 **|X| ONE HOUR LATER**

After receiving all their Pokémon back, Ash and Company got ready for bed. Ash John got under the covers, he asked Ash, "Question, do you have feelings for Dawn?" Ash, who was about to get into his bed, immediately blushed and said, "Um…well…I…uh…" John then laughed and said, "I got you on that one my friend, OMG, Ash Ketchum is in love." Ash hung his head and said, "Yeah, yeah, keep it quiet please, I want to tell Dawn personally." John smiled and said, "Of course, Don't worry Ash, I'll let you tell her." Ash smiled back at John and said, "Thank you John," and John nodded his head and the two went to sleep, not knowing the grave danger that was ahead of them.

* * *

 _Times Ash is mentioned: 215_

 _Times John is mentioned: 111_

 _Ash-to-John Ratio: 1.94_

 **A.N.: I showed the ratio for the number of times Ash Ketchum is mentioned to the number times John is mentioned is because I was told in one of my stories that readers felt my OC was being forced when the story revolved around Ash, so in this story, I decided to show my readers that John will not be forced into this story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.: I should have said this before, but the first few chapters will be Ash going to the airport to go to the Divine Region, I'll let you know when the actual battling rebellion starts.**

 **|X| TIME SKIP**

" **Pokémon move** "

' _Thoughts_ '

" _Telepathy"_

* * *

The morning after they had their Pre-sleep training, Ash and John were up first and they got to cups of coffee. As John took a sip from his cup, Ash asked him, "What gym, do you want to tackle first?" John placed his cup down and said, "I was about to ask you the same question Ash, but since you asked, I think we tackle the Gym in the town we'll land in, if there is a Gym in the town." Ash then nodded his head and said, "Yeah, we should look it up and see where the gyms are." John nodded his head in agreement as Dawn and Lillie walked up to the two of them. Dawn then said, "You two are up early, and drinking coffee." Ash looked at Dawn and said, "Yeah, and we were talking about what Gym we should tackle first, and we thought we should find out what Gyms are where and tackle the one nearest to the airport." Dawn pulled up a chair and said, "You going to a region with a plan, who are you and what have you done to the real Ash Ketchum?" Ash laughed and said, "I'm still me Dawn, I'm just wising up, I have never gone into a region with a plan, this time is different. This time, we have an objective and we need a plan." Ash's friends were all shocked to hear Ash say that and were completely speechless until John said, "Well, Ash is really growing up." Ash looked across at John and he said, "Oh knock it off. Now, let's figure out what Gym is in the city the airport will be in." John nodded his head and he, Dawn, and Lillie followed Ash to the computer to find out more about the Gyms in the Divine Region.

 **|X| A COUPLE MINUTES LATER**

Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie were looking at the computer with a map of the Divine Region. Ash as sitting down in front of the computer and said, "Looks like the Gym closest to the Airport is the ground type gym." John took the mouse from Ash and scrolled to the top and saw that the Gyms could be sorted by number of badges needed to compete in the gyms and clicked it. after which, all the gyms rearranged themselves by order of badges. John then said, "That's what I thought, the first gym we'll need is far away from the airport, and you'll need every other badge to actually be allowed to fight the gym leader." Then Ash said, "Damn, and it looks like we have to go through every town to get to the first Gym." Then Dawn asked, "Why would they it set up like that?" Ash looked at dawn and said, "I honestly don't know Dawn, I honestly do not know." Lillie then said, "Well, it doesn't matter, you can do anything Ash, you just have to put your mind to it." Ash then looked at Lillie and said, "Thank you Lillie." Ash then stood up and said, "Alright, let's get going to Celadon City, then to the Divine Region." John, Dawn, and Lilli nodded their heads and the four of them walked out of the Pokémon center and began the walk to Celadon City.

 **|X| A FEW MINUTES LATER**

Ash and his companions were in the woods with Ash looking at the map. Ash then said, "If I remember correctly, and if we stay on this path, we should reach Celadon City in a few days. We just need to go through Pewter City, Cerulean City, and Saffron City." Lillie then said, "Great, I just hope to see more Pokémon to catch them." Ash smiled and said, "You really wanna make friends with every Pokémon?" Lillie nodded her head and said, "I haven't been able to touch Pokémon for most of my life, now that I can, I just wanna pet every Pokémon I catch, and I want to take care of them, and grow our bond." Ash smiled and was about to speak when a wild Cleffa appeared in front of the group. Everyone was speechless, Mount Moon was no where near their location. Lillie squealed and said, "I want it!" that caused the Cleffa to run away. After which, Lillie felt sad about losing the chance to catch a Cleffa and Ash and the others tried to cheer her up. Suddenly, the Cleffa came back and said, that only Ash, John, and Dawn could understand, " _I'm sorry for running like I did, I was just startled._ " Cleffa then walked up to Lillie and placed her little hand on Lillie's left knee. Ash then looked at Lillie and said, "Lillie, the Cleffa wants you to catch it, look." Lillie looked at her knees and saw that Cleffa was climbing onto her legs and she sat down. Cleffa then said, " _I know you're supposed to battle me before you catch me, but I just want you to catch me, because I can tell you have a good heart_." Ash then said, "She wants you to catch her, she knows that you would have to battle her first, but she just wants you to catch her, because she can tell you have a good heart." The Cleffa looked at Ash and said, " _You know what I'm saying_?" causing Ash to nod his head and said, "It's a long story." Lillie then took out an empty Pokéball, expanded it, and tapped the button on Cleffa's head and Cleffa went inside the Pokéball. After three shakes and a 'ding', Cleffa was caught. Lillie was overfilled with Joy and she shot straight up and said, "I did it, I CAUGHT A CLEFFA!" Ash then said, "Way to go Lillie, do you plan to name it?" Lillie nodded her head and said, "Since Cleffa looks like a star, I'm going to call her Starie." Ash smiled and said, "that's a good name." Lillie then stood up and the four of them continued their journey to Celadon city. Meanwhile, a certain Trio was in their hot air balloon flying overheard of the four friends. The man looked down and said, "Twerps spotted, and the blonde hair Twerpette is with them." The Woman and Pokémon looked in the direction the man was looking and the woman said, "Good work James, Meowth, do we have anything to trap them?" Meowth looked at the woman and said, "Not to worry Jessie, I have the perfect trap to catch that Pikachu for sure." Meowth then pulled out a Control and pressed the big red Button.

As Ash and his friends walked, a giant hand charged at them and grabbed Pikachu, causing everyone to spin around and shout, "PIKACHU!" John then said, "Alright, what's going on?" that was when they heard a female voice say, "Did someone ask something? We're here to find out!" Then a Male voice said, "Noble answers are what we're all about!" and the female voice said, "The beauty so radiant, the flowers and moon hide in shame. A single flower of evil in this fleeting world: Jessie!" The man then said, "The nobly heroic man of our times! The master of darkness fighting back against a tragic world! James: It's James." Then a third voice said, "It's all for one and one for all! A glittering dark star that always shines bright! Dig it, while Meowth takes flight!" Jessie and James then said, "Team Rocket, let's fight!" and Meowth said, "That's right!" Finally, a Pokémon voice was heard and it said, "Wobbuffet!" Ash clenched his fists and said, "Damn it Team Rocket, when will you ever learn?!" Jessie then said, "Well too bad Twerp, because we might never learn." Ash then said, "Give Pikachu Back so we can continue heading to the Divine Region." Then James said, "You twerps will have to…wait, what Region did you just say?" Ash and his friends were confused and looked at each other, then back at Team Rocket and they all said, "The Divine Region." James was shocked, causing Jessie and Meowth to look at him and Jessie asked, "James…are you okay?" James then said, "Let's give them back Pikachu." Everyone was speechless until Jessie said, "Have you gone mad?!" James looked at Jessie and Meowth and shouted, "GIVE ASH BACK HIS PIKACHU GOD DAMN IT!" Again, everyone was speechless, even some of the wild Pokémon stopped in their tracks. Jessie and Meowth were still looking at James, who had serious look on his face. Meowth then said, "H…H…Hey James, buddy, pal, w…w…wa…wanna explain the look you have?" James then said, "The Divine Region is a corrupt Region, the Cops there turn a blind eye to all criminal activity, the region's also ran by a cult like organization, they'll need all the power they have, so Meowth, release Pikachu." Meowth was still speechless, but he pushed the big red button and the hand released Pikachu and Ash managed to catch him. James then lowered the hot air balloon, jumped out and walked over to Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie and said, "Be careful Ash, always watch your back, and be careful of who you meet in that region." James then turned around and walked back to the hot air balloon but stopped when Ash said, "James, why did you tell us to watch our backs?" James looked back at Ash and said, "My father and Mother used to tell me stories of the Divine Region, how it was conquered by a cult like Organization that worship a type of god that doesn't exist, they call their god… Kuthulitia. Everyone and every Pokémon in the organization are blind followers to their leader, he calls himself the Divine Prophet, and decided to change the Region's name from its original name to the Divine Region, it's previous name was the Truven Region." Ash looked at his friends, then at James, ran up to him, and said, "Thank you James, we'll use the information to our advantage." Ash then extended his hand out to James to shake hands with him, which James gladly took and the two shook hands. Both sides smiled and James got back into the hot air Balloon and told Meowth to take off, which he did and Team Rocket flew away. John then walked up to Ash and said, "This was definitely a new encounter with Team Rocket." Ash nodded his head and said, "I just wish I knew how James and his parents know so much about this Cult of Kuthulitia." John nodded his head and said, "Well, we're almost to Pewter City, I wonder if Brock's in." Ash then said, "Well, only one way to find out, let's go!" John and the girls cheered and the four of them continued walking towards Pewter City.

 **|X| A FEW MINUTES OF WALKING**

When Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie arrived in Pewter City, they saw that the town was lively and everyone was out and about. Ash then said, "Wow, the city feels so alive today." Dawn nodded her head and said, "I agree, and this is my first time in Pewter City." Then a voice from behind Lillie said, "I'm glad you guys think so, Pewter City is hosting a special event that it does annually." The four turned around and saw a man with squinting eyes, spikey brown hair, and wearing a green vest, orange shirt and brown Cargo pants. Ash and John smiled and Ash said, "Hey Brock, what's the event." The man then said, "Well Ash, the event is the Pewter City Rock festival, it's an annual festival that my family hosts." Ash then said, "Wow, I never knew that your family hosted a festival Brock." Brock told Ash and company that they started the event right after Brock got back from Sinnoh. Brock then said, "There's a tournament coming up shortly, you guys can enter it if you want, the prize is a new Pokémon for the winner's team." Ash then said, "let me guess, it's a rock type." Brock smiled and said, "You got me Ash, it's a rock type." Ash smiled and said, "Well, I already have a rock type, so you three want to join the tournament?" John then said that he was good on a rock type as well, but Dawn and Lillie decided to join the tournament. As Dawn and Lillie signed up, Ash asked Brock how his Pokémon doctor practices were doing and Brock said, "They're going well, how has your journey been?" Ash told Brock that his journey has been going well and that he, John, Dawn, and Lillie were going to a new region. Brock then said, "Of course, I wish I can go with you guys but…" Ash smiled and said, "It's alright Brock, we understand, in fact, John was going to be the one cooking for us," causing John to say, "Yeah Brock, I'm going to take what I learned from you when you traveled with us and put it to good use." Brock smiled and said, "I'm honored that you will take what I taught you and plan to put it to use in a new region." John smiled and nodded his head. Just then, Dawn and Lillie walked up to the three friends, Dawn said, "We're registered, now we just need to wait for the tournament to begin." Brock then suggested that they get some food to eat before the tournament began, and everyone was on board. As they walked to the food stalls, Ash asked Dawn and Lillie what Pokémon they were going to use, and Dawn said, "Since they only allow trainers to use one Pokémon, I went with Piplup," and Lillie said, "and I picked Snowy." Dawn then said, "Yeah, and there are only 16 trainers, including me and Lillie." Ash smiled and said, "That's good to hear, I can't wait to watch you battle, both you and Lillie." Dawn blushed as Lillie smiled.

 **|X| A HALF HOUR LATER**

After everyone ate lunch, the tournament began with the announcer saying, "Welcome everyone, to the third annual, Pewter City Rock Festival Battle tournament, the sixteen trainers in front of you will compete for a chance to get a brand-new Pokémon to add to their team. Now may I introduce to you all to the person who is in charge of the festivities, Brock Harrison." Brock took the microphone and said, "Thank you, like he said, welcome everyone, to the third annual, Pewter City Rock Festival Battle tournament, this has been the most successful festival out of the three years since its creation, I like to thank all those who help make this event and the trainers who are participating in the tournament, now let's get battle tournament underway!" Brock then handed the mic back to announcer and the Announcer said, "Alright, here are the eight first round battles. The first battle will be Trevor against Stacy." Trevor looked over at Stacy and said, "Let's give them quite a show." Stacy nodded her head and said, "I agree." The announcer then said, "The second battle will be Frank against George." Frank then said, "Alright, I'm facing my little brother," causing George to say, "Just because you're older, doesn't mean you automatically win." then the announcer said that the third battle would be Violet against Dawn. Dawn then said, "Alright, can't wait to battle." Violet then said, "Can't wait either, let's give them a good battle." Dawn nodded her head in determination. The announcer then said, "The fourth battle will be Fred against Carlos." Both trainers didn't say a word. As the announcer said the fifth and sixth battles, Ash said to John, "This is just like the battle tournaments in the Unova Region, but the prize is a new Pokémon." John nodded his head in agreement and said, "Yeah, sure has been a while since we been in Unova." Ash nodded his head and heard the announcer say, "The seventh Battle will be David against Lillie." Lille chuckled nervously and looked at David and said, "good luck." David smiled and said, "Good luck to you too." Finally the announcer said, "The eighth and final battle for the first round will be Scott against Xavier." Scott smiled, but Xavier was nervous." The announcer then said, "Will the contestants of the first battle please take their spots to begin the tournament."

The first two battles went by rather quickly, with Stacy winning with her Golem and George beating his older brother with Hitmonlee. Then the announcer said, "Will the third battle participants please make their way to their spots. Dawn stood up an said to Lillie, "wish me luck." Lillie nodded her head and said, "Good luck Dawn." Dawn then walked into her spot as Violet walked into hers. Dawn then said, "This is my first trainer battle in Kanto, but I'm more than experienced in battling." Causing Violet to say, "I was hoping you were, and I've watched your contests in Sinnoh and Jhoto, but let's get this battle started, let's go Sandshrew." As the Pokémon appeared it was a Sandshrew. Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon and the Pokédex said, "Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon, a ground type. It can roll its body into a ball. It moves through the desert by rolling at high speeds. This Sandshrew knows **Dig** , **Swift** , **Gyro** **Ball** , and **Shadow Claw**." Dawn smiled and said, "Well then, let's go Piplup." Piplup nodded his head and jumped onto the field. The referee then said, "Battle begin." Violet made the first move and she said, "Sandshrew, use **Dig**." Sandshrew nodded his head and dug underneath the ground, which made Dawn smile and said, "Okay Piplup, Jump, and use **Drill** **peck** on the ground." Piplup obeyed Dawn and jumped, just before Sandshrew came out from under the ground and caused him to miss, but Piplup dove straight down and he began spinning and he struck Sandshrew, even though it didn't do a whole lot of damage. Dawn then said, "Use **Bubble** **Pool**." Dawn's command confused everyone, even Ash and John were confused until they saw Piplup use **Whirlpool** and then used **Bubble** **beam** and Piplup threw the combined moves at Sandshrew, and when Violet told Sandshrew to dodge the attack, he was too scared to move and the moves struck Sandshrew and sent him flying into the wall behind violet and created a big cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Sandshrew was out cold. The referee then said, "Sandshrew is unable to continue, Piplup is the winner, which mean the victor is Dawn from Twinleaf town." Dawn cheered and Piplup jumped into her arms and Violet recalled Sandshrew. Dawn and Violet then met in the middle of the arena and Dawn said, "That was a good match, sorry I made it so short." Violet smiled and said, "It's okay, I figured you would used a combo move like that, but I just didn't expect you to use a water type." Dawn then said, "Well, Piplup is my first Pokémon, I know I could have registered any of my other Pokémon, but in all honestly, I just wanted to have Piplup to be my first Pokémon I use in my first battle in Kanto." Violet smiled and said, "I hope you make it to the finals Dawn." Dawn smiled and said, "No need to worry, I know I will." Dawn and Violet then shook hands before the Announcer said, "There you have it folks, good sportsmanship between competitors, now will the next two trainers step up for the fourth battle?" As Fred and Carlos walked to their spots, Dawn sat down next to Lillie and Lillie said, "Congratulations Dawn, you did well." Dawn smiled and said, "Thanks Lillie, I bet you'll do great in your battle too." Lillie smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

As the other battles ended, it was Lillie and David up next, and Lillie was nervous, but David said, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." Lillie looked at David and said, "okay, because this is my first official Battle in the Kanto region, but I'm not worried, I'll give it my all, just like my friend Ash taught me." David smiled and the two trainers walked into their respective sides to begin battling. David sent out his Pokémon as he said, "Let's go Vulpix!" the Pokémon that appeared was the Kanto Version of Vulpix, Dawn pulled out her Pokédex again and scanned the Vulpix and the Pokédex said, "Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon, Kanto form, a fire type, its beautiful fur and tails have made it very popular. As it grows, its tails split to form more tails. Weak to Water, Ground, and Rock type moves. This Vulpix knows **Ember** , **Quick** **Attack** , **Dark** **Pulse** , and **Energy** **Ball**." Lillie then said, "So, it will be a battle of the variations, let's go Snowy!" Snowy nodded her head and jumped into battle. Dawn then scanned Snowy and the Pokédex said, "Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon, Alolan Form, an Ice type, it exhales air colder than -58 degrees Fahrenheit. Elderly people in Alola call this Pokémon by an older name—Keokeo. Weak to Fire, Fighting, Rock, Steel type moves. This Vulpix knows **Powder** **Snow** , **Dark** **Pulse** , **Aurora** **Veil** , and **Ice** **Beam**." John then said, "Looks like David has the advantage." But Ash said, "Maybe, but I know Lillie, and with what I taught her in the Alola Region, she'll make sure that, she'll make sure that she won't lose, even with the type disadvantage." The referee then said, "Battle Begin!" David began the battle by saying, "Use **Ember** Vulpix!" David's Vulpix nodded his head and shot balls of fire at Snowy, but Lillie said, "Dodge and use **Dark** **Pulse** at the ground." Snowy dodged the Ember and followed Lillie's command and used **Dark Pulse** on the ground, creating a make shift Smokescreen, and concealing Snowy from David's Vulpix. David then said, "Focus Vulpix, use **Dark** **Pulse** to get rid of the smoke." David's Vulpix obeyed and used **Dark** **Pulse** to clear the smoke and saw that Snowy was no where to be seen. David was startled at the sight and Lillie said, "Now you use **Dark** **Pulse** again Snowy! This time on David's Vulpix" Snowy was in the air and used **Dark** **Pulse** and got a hit on David's Vulpix. Lillie then said, "Use **Ice** **Beam**!" Snowy obeyed and shot a ray of ice at David's Vulpix, and scored hit as David's Vulpix was still trying to get up from the **Dark Pulse**. Lillie then said, "Alright Snowy, finish this with **Dark Pulse**!" Snowy landed on the ground and obeyed Lillie's order and finished the battle with Dark Pulse that sent David's Vulpix into the wall. When the smoke cleared, David's Vulpix was out cold and the referee then said, "Vulpix is unable to battle, Vulpix wins, which means that the battle goes to Lillie of Hau'oli City." Lillie smiled and jumped into the air in excitement as Snowy ran up to her and jumped into Lillie's arms and the two went back to their seats.

 **|X| AFTER THE LAST BATTLE**

The announcer stood up and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the eight second-round Contestants; Stacy, George, Dawn, Fred, Alex, Steven, Lillie, and Scott, we will begin shuffling for the second-round competitors." As the pictures appeared, the announcer said, "The first battle of the second round will be George against Scott, the second battle is Dawn against Stacy, the third round is Fred against Steven, and the fourth battle will be Alex against Lillie. Will the first battle contestants please step into their spots to begin the second-round battles." George and Scott took spots on opposite sides, Dawn, Lillie, Ash, and John all watched as they sent out their Pokémon, George's Hitmonlee and Scott's Hitmonchan. After the battle started, both Pokémon were giving it their all, Dawn then said, "They know the same moves, **Low** **Sweep** , **High** **Jump** **Kick** , **Seismic** **Toss** , and **Force** **Palm**." Lillie nodded her head and said, "I guess their trainers both thought that was a good moveset." Now Dawn nodded her head and saw Hitmonlee get a good **Force** **Palm** in and sent Hitmonchan to the ground, the referee then said, "Hitmonchan is unable to continue, Hitmonlee is the winner, which means the battle goes to George of Cinnabar Island." George and Hitmonlee cheered as they walked off and the referee, "Second battle competitors, please make your way to the boxes to begin your battle." Dawn stood up and walked to her spot and said, "Let's go Piplup." Piplup nodded his head and ran into the battlefield. Stacy called out her Golem and said, "Just because we have the type disadvantage, doesn't mean we'll lose, I know about your **Bubble** **pool** attack, that won't work on us." Dawn then said, "Don't worry, I have plenty of move combinations no one has ever seen yet, I'm a Pokémon coordinator, but not today." Then the referee said, "Battle Begin." Dawn started off by saying, "Piplup, use **Bubble** **Beam** , then **Drill** **Peck**." Piplup obeyed and shot bubbles at Golem and then ran into a jump and began spinning faster and faster, he even got his Bubble Beam to spin around with him and the two moves struck Golem and sent him sliding backwards. The combined moves did a lot of damage, but Golem slowly stood up, looking like he still had energy left to fight. Dawn was impressed and she said, "Impressive, it seems your Golem has a high defense." Stacy smiled and said, "Thank you, and I have to say, watching you battle like you're in a contest, it's intriguing. Golem, use **Rollout** into **Rock** **Climb** and into **Rock** **Throw**." Golem retracted his head and limbs and rolled towards Piplup and struck him, Golem then used Rock climb and made a mountain appear and struck Piplup again. Then Golem grabbed a boulder and threw it at Piplup, hitting him and sending him flying backwards into a still in one-piece boulder. As Piplup stood up, Dawn said, "Piplup, use **Bubble** **Beam** , then **Ice** **Beam**." Piplup obeyed and shot bubbles at Golem then shot Ice beam at the bubbles, freezing them and doing more damage to Golem, enough damage to knock Golem out and the Referee said, "Golem is unable to battle, Piplup is the winner, which means the victory goes to Dawn of Twinleaf Town." Dawn cheered and said, "All right!" Piplup did a smug pose and Stacy recalled her Golem and said, "I'm surprised, I've never seen that combo move before." Dawn picked up Piplup and said, "Honestly, I didn't think that would work, but now that I know it works, I can use it in contests." Stacy smiled and said, "You've inspired me Dawn, after this, I'm going to take part in contests and compete in the grand festival." Dawn smiled and said, "That's great, can't wait to see your first contest." Stacy thanked Dawn and the two walked off the battlefield. The announcer then said, "Will the third-round contestants please take their places on the battlefield." As Dawn sat down, Fred and Steven took their spots and called out their Pokémon. Fred sent out a Simipour and Steven sent out a Nidoking. Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the two Pokémon, and the Pokédex said, "Simipour, the Geyser Pokémon, a Water-type, it prefers places with clean water. When its tuft runs low, it replenishes it by siphoning up water with its tail. This Simipour knows **Scald** , **Iron** **Tail** , **Blizzard** , and **Hydro** **Pump**. Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon, a Poison-and-Ground-type, Nidoking's thick tail packs enormously destructive power. With one swing, it can topple a metal transmission tower. Once this Pokémon goes on a rampage, there is no stopping it. This Nidoking knows **Megahorn** , **Thunder** **Punch** , **Ice** **Beam** , and **Outrage**." The referee then said, "Battle begin!" Fred started the battle by saying, "Simipour, use **Hydro** **Pump**!" Simipour obeyed and fired a blast of water at Nidoking, but Steven told Nidoking to dodge the attack, he did, causing Steven to then say, "Use Ice Beam Nidoking!" Nidoking obeyed ay shot a beam of Ice at Simipour, and Fred said, "Dodge it!" Simipour tried to dodge it, but Nidoking turned his head to hit Simipour, trapping Simipour's legs in ice. Steven then said, "Use **Thunder** **Punch**!" Nidoking charged Simipour with sparks of electricity coming from it and when Nidoking punched Simipour, a giant explosion occurred and Simipour flew out of the smoke and fell backwards. As Simipour got up, Steven said, "Finish this with **Outrage**." Nidoking obeyed and charged Simipour and struck the Geyser Pokémon with great force and Simipour went down and was unable to continue and the battle went to Steven. Lillie's Battle was up next, and Dawn wished her luck and Lillie said, "Thank you Dawn, I'll need it." Lillie then got to her spot and saw Alex standing in his spot and he said, "I watched you battle, and I have perfect strategy to bet you, Let's go IVYSAUR!" as he threw the Pokéball into the air and the Pokémon that was in fact an Ivysaur. Dawn then took out her Pokédex and scanned Ivysaur and the Pokédex read, "Ivysaur, the seed Pokémon, a Grass/Poison type. There is a bud on this Pokémon's back. To support its weight, Ivysaur's legs and trunk grow thick and strong. If it starts spending more time lying in the sunlight, it's a sign that the bud will bloom into a large flower soon. This Ivysaur knows **Razor** **Leaf** , **Solar** **Beam** , **Energy** **Ball** , and **Leaf** **Storm**." Lillie smiled and id, "Let's go Snowy." Snowy obeyed and jumped onto the battlefield. The referee then said, "Battle Begin!" Alex started by saying, "Ivysaur, make sure that you don't get hit by that Vulpix's **Powder** **Snow** , and we'll start by using **Energy** **Ball**!" Ivysaur obeyed and shot a ball of energy at Snowy, and Lillie said, "Snowy, use Dark Pulse to destroy the Energy Ball." Snowy obeyed and shot a pulsing ray of Dark energy at the energy Ball and the two moves collided in the middle of the battlefield. Lillie then said, "Now use Ice Beam!" Snowy obeyed and shot a beam of ice at Ivysaur, but Alex told Ivysaur to dodge and he successfully did. Alex then said, "USE **LEAF** **STORM**!" Ivysaur obeyed and a tornado of leaves appeared and was sent at Snowy, and scored a direct hit on her and sent snowy sliding backwards towards Lillie.

Lillie asked Snowy if she was alright, Snowy nodded her head and Lillie said, "Alright Snowy, use **Dark** **Pulse** into **Ice** **Beam**." Snowy obeyed and shot **Dark** **Pulse** and then switched to **Ice** **beam** and the two moves combined to form a **Frozen** **Dark** **Pulse** and it struck Ivysaur with the power of both attacks and caused Ivysaur to fly towards Alex and came to sliding stop, the damage was definitely showing on Ivysaur as he breathed heavily. Lillie then said, "Alright Snowy let's finish this battle with our final move." Snowy nodded her head and Lillie reached into pocket and pulled out a bracelet of some kind that Ash recognized. John saw the look on Ash's face and said, "You know what that thing is?" Ash nodded his head in response and said, "It's a Z-ring, and the Crystal inside is a Icium Z crystal." John looked back at the battle and saw Lillie place the Z-Ring on her wrist and she said, "Time for our special Move." Lillie then pressed the Icium Z Crystal and she and Snowy were then surrounded by a light blue Aura. Lillie then said, "We're stronger together and never apart." John then felt the temperature drop quickly as Lillie said, "Snowy, use Z-Move, **SUBZERO** **SLAMMER**!" Snowy obeyed and got all of the energy that was building and shot it all at Ivysaur, scoring a direct hit and created a huge explosion, covering the entire Stadium in smoke. After the smoke cleared, everyone saw Ivysaur was down for the count and the referee said, "Ivysaur is unable to continue, Vulpix is the winner, which means the battle goes to Lillie of Hau'oli City." The announcer then said, "Incredible, we all just witness Z-move, originating in the Alola Region. Now we're down to the final four, George, Dawn, Steven, and Lillie, the semi-finals battles will be George against Lillie and Dawn against Steven. The first battle will begin in a half hour for our final four trainers to get their Pokémon healed." After the announcer finished speaking, the trainers participating in the tournament left the area they were sitting in and Ash and John left their seats to talk to Lillie and Dawn.

When Ash and John found Dawn and Lillie, Ash said, "You girls are doing good, it's already halfway done." Dawn and Lillie both smiled and Dawn said, "I bet it will be me against Lillie in the finals." Then Lillie said, "If it does come down to you and me Dawn, I'm not going to hold back." Dawn looked at Lillie with determination in her eyes and said, "Good, I'm not going to hold back either." Ash then said, "I'm going to cheer both of you on, even if you have to face each other in the finals." Dawn and Lillie smiled while Dawn blushed, and John saw this. Ash then looked at his watch and said, "It's almost time to go back, let's get going." John, Dawn and Lillie nodded their heads and the four of them walked back to the stadium. After arriving back at the stadium, Lillie's battle was about to begin. As John and Ash took their seats, the announcer said, "Welcome everyone to the first semi-final round battle, the trainers in this battle will be between Lillie of Hau'oli City against George of Cinnabar Island." The referee then said, "Trainers, send out your Pokémon." Lillie sent out Snowy, and George sent out Hitmonlee. George then said, "I'm going to win this battle, then the tournament." Then Lillie said, "Snowy, let's make sure that we give it our all." Snowy nodded her head and the referee said, "Battle Begin." George started the battle and he said, "Hitmonlee, use **Low** **Sweep**!" Hitmonlee charged Snowy to low sweep her, but Lillie said, "Snowy, use **Ice** **Beam** on the ground around you." Snowy obeyed and shot a beam of ice at the ground, freezing the ground and Hitmonlee stepped on the icy ground and began slipping and sliding. Lillie then said, "Snowy, remember the **Dark** **Pulse** into **Ice** **Beam** combination we did, let's use it again." Snowy nodded her head and shot **Dark** **Pulse** and then **Ice** **Beam** and the two moves combined again and they struck Hitmonlee and sent him flying backwards. George then said, "Use **High** **Jump** **kick**!" Hitmonlee obeyed and jumped high in the air and started to come straight down towards Snowy. But Lillie said, "Dodge it!" Snowy obeyed and jumped out of the way, causing Hitmonlee to smash his knee into the ground, and causing Hitmonlee's knee to hurt badly. Lillie then said, " **Ice** **Beam** Snowy, then use **Dark** **Pulse**!" Snowy obeyed and used **Ice** **Beam** on Hitmonlee and then used **Dark** **Pulse** on Hitmonlee, dealing the knockout blow to him and ending the battle. The announcer then said after the referee declared Lillie the winner, "Incredible, Trainer Lillie managed to pull off a victory with no injury to her Pokémon, let's she if she can do the same with her next opponent after the second Semi-Final round."

Dawn was next and as she sent out Piplup, Steven sent out his Nidoking. Steven then said, "If you honestly think that puny Pokémon can beat my Nidoking, you're sadly mistaken." Causing Dawn to say, "Piplup may not be evolved, but he's strong." When the battle began, Steven said, "Let's make this quick with **Thunder** **Punch**." Nidoking obeyed and charged Piplup ready to strike, but Dawn said, "Dodge it." Piplup obeyed and jumped backwards. Dawn then said, "Use **Bubble** **Ice** **Pool**!" Piplup knew the combo move Dawn wanted him to use and obeyed **Whirlpool** , **Bubble** **Beam** , then **Ice** **Beam** and the three moves combined and created a Frozen Whirlpool with frozen Bubbles on the sides and it flew towards Nidoking, but Steven said, "Use **Megahorn** to break the ice!" Nidoking obeyed and used Megahorn to destroy the Ice combination attack, only to see that Piplup disappeared. Dawn the said, " **ICE** **BEAM**!" Nidoking looked around for Piplup, only to get hit in the back by **Ice** **Beam**. Piplup managed to get behind Nidoking. Next, Dawn said, "Now use **Bubble** **Beam** and then **Ice** **Beam**!" Piplup obeyed and fired a bunch of Bubbles at Nidoking and then shot Ice Beam at the bubbles, freezing them and doing major Damage to Nidoking. Steven then told Nidoking to use **Ice** **Beam** too, and Nidoking obeyed and shot a beam if Ice at Piplup, catching him in the foot. Steven then said, " **MEGAHORN**!" As Nidoking charged Piplup, Dawn said, "Peck at the ice, Dodge Nidoking, and then use **Bubble** **Beam**!" Piplup pecked at the ice to free himself as Nidoking charged. The crowd was getting anxious and as Nidoking was about to hit Piplup, Piplup finished getting out of the Ice, dodged Nidoking, and shot bubbles at Nidoking, doing massive damage to the Pokémon. Dawn then said, "Finish this battle with **Bubble** **Pool**!" Piplup obeyed and used **Whirlpool** and then used **Bubble** **beam** and Piplup threw the combined moves at Nidoking and the moves struck Nidoking and knocked him out. The referee then said, "Nidoking is unable to continue, Piplup is the winner, which means the victory goes to Dawn of Twinleaf Town." Steven was speechless as he heard the referee say that and saw Nidoking go down. Steven then recalled Nidoking and said, "You pathetic piece of Garbage." Ash clenched his fist, as did Dawn and John. Dawn then walked over to Steven and said, "How do you say that, Nidoking fought very hard during the battle." Steven looked at Dawn, then back at Nidoking's Pokéball and called Nidoking back out. When Nidoking came out, Steven said, "She's your new trainer, I don't want anything to do with you." Steven then tossed Dawn Nidoking's Pokéball and said, "Enjoy having that piece of garbage on your team." Steven then walked away, leaving Nidoking and Dawn standing there. Dawn looked at Nidoking and said, "I'm so sorry Nidoking." Nidoking looked at Dawn and began crying as he said, said, " _There's no need to be sorry, I hated that guy, he treated me poorly_." Dawn was shocked to hear that Steven was a lot like Paul when she first met him. Dawn then said, "Well, would you like to join me on my journey?" Nidoking smiled and said, " _Yes, I Would be honored to join your team_." Dawn smiled and said, "Okay, when the tournament is over, we'll take care of it." Nidoking nodded his head and Dawn looked at the referee and announcer and said, "I forfeit the final round." Ash smiled, as did John and Brock. Lillie stood up and said, "Are you sure Dawn?" Dawn looked at Lillie and said, "I have a new Pokémon, it's only fair that you get the Pokémon that's the prize." Lillie was speechless, until she sighed, smiled and said, "Thank you Dawn, but I want to earn that Pokémon, let's still do the battle." Dawn smiled back at Lillie and said, "Okay, you want a battle, you got one." The announcer then said, "Alrighty folks, I thought we weren't going to see the final battle, but I was wrong, let's get this final battle underway." Dawn and Lillie took opposite sides of the field, Piplup and Snowy were ready to battle. The referee then said, "Battle begin!" Both Dawn and Lillie said, " **ICE** **BEAM**!" Both Piplup and Snowy obeyed their trainers and shot Ice beam at each other, colliding in the middle of the battlefield. Lillie then said, "Snowy, on my command, Jump and use **Dark** **pulse**." Snowy nodded her head without letting up on the **Ice** **beam**. Lillie then said, "NOW JUMP!" Snowy obeyed and jumped into the air and let Piplup's Ice beam hit the wall behind Snowy and shot Dark Pulse at Piplup, scoring a hit. As Piplup got up, Dawn said, "Bubble Beam Piplup!" Piplup obeyed and shot multiple bubbles at Snowy, but Lillie said, "Use Powder Snow to get rid of the Bubbles and send them back to Piplup." Snowy obeyed and used Powder snow and froze the Bubbles, popping some and sending the rest back at Piplup, doing more Damage to him. Lillie then said, "Piplup looks like he's almost down, let's use our Z-move." Snowy nodded her head and Dawn said, "Get ready Piplup, here comes their Z-move." Piplup nodded his head and readied himself. Lillie then pressed the Icium Z Crystal and she and Snowy were then surrounded by a light blue Aura. Lillie then said, "We're stronger together and never apart." John then felt the temperature drop quickly again as Lillie said, "Snowy, use Z-Move, **SUBZERO** **SLAMMER**!" Snowy obeyed and got all of the energy that was building and shot it all at Piplup, scoring a direct hit, and knocking Piplup out for the count. The referee then said, "Piplup is unable to continue, Vulpix wins, which means that the battle goes to Lillie of Hau'oli City." Lillie cheered as Snowy ran to her and the two shared a hug.

At the ending Ceremony, Brock handed Lillie a medal and said, "This medal shows that you won the Pewter City Rock Festival Battle tournament. Now for the prize you joined for, you may pick one of these Rock type Pokémon." Lillie looked at the Pokémon and saw a Geodude, a Corsola, an Aron, a Cranidos, a Roggenrola, a Binacle, and a Shiny Rockruff. Lillie walked up to the Pokémon and knew of the perfect way to chose her Pokémon. Lillie knelt down and asked the Pokémon, "Who would like to join me on my Journey." Everyone, even the Pokémon were speechless, until the Cranidos and the shiny Rockruff step forward. Lillie then stood up and asked the announcer, "Is it possible I can get both?" and the announcer said, "I'm not sure… no one has ever…" but was cut off by Brock saying, "Let her take both." Brock then walked over to Lillie and said, "Ash told me that you already have two Pokémon with you, what's two more Pokémon going to hurt." Lillie thanked Brock and took out two Pokéballs and tapped them on the heads of the Cranidos and Rockruff and after three shakes and a Ding from Both Pokéballs, Lillie smiled and said, "I just caught… A Cranidos and a Rockruff of my own!" Everyone clapped for her. Ash, John, and Dawn walked up to Lillie and John said, "Congrats Lillie, are you going to give these guys nicknames too?" Lillie shook her head and said, "No, not this time."

 **|X| AFTER THE FESTIVAL ENDS**

Brock was with Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie on the outskirts of Pewter City saying his goodbyes. Brock then said, "You guys sure that you don't want to stay for the night." But Ash said, "We appreciate the offer Brock, but we need to get to Celadon City so we can get on a Plane to the Divine Region." Brock crossed his arms and said, "Alright, be careful Ash, all of you, watch each other backs." John looked at Brock and said, "You know we will." After saying their goodbyes, Ash led John, Dawn, and Lillie out of Pewter City. After walking for a while, Ash and his friends stopped for the night in the woods. As John, Ash, and Lillie got camp set up, Dawn called out Nidoking and told him that if she was to catch him, they would have to destroy his Pokéball. Nidoking nodded his head and after Dawn tossed his Pokéball into the air, Nidoking used Thunder punch on his Pokéball, destroying it. Dawn then took out one of her Pokéballs and pressed the button against Nidoking and Nidoking went into the Pokéball. After three shakes and a ding, Dawn said, "I did it, I caught Nidoking. Ash congratulated Dawn and Dawn thanked Ash back. John then said, "We need to get going, see you later Brock." Brock nodded his head and said, "Take care you guys." Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads and they said, "We will, bye Brock." Ash then led John, Dawn, and Lillie away from Pewter City and on through Route 3.

 **|X| AS NIGHT FELL**

As John and Lillie got dinner ready, Ash and Dawn set up the tents and take care of the Pokémon. Ash looked at John and said, "Do you think we should let the three out?" John looked up from making dinner and said, "I don't see why not, they need to stretch their wings." After Lillie asked who they were talking about, John looked at her and said, "You'll see." Ash, John, and Dawn stood next to each other, taking out one Pokéball and threw the Pokéballs into the air as the three of them said, "LET'S GO!" when the Pokéballs opened and the Pokémon inside them appeared, Lillie was in awe, she was looking at the three Legendary Birds, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos. Ash then said, "Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, this is our friend Lillie, she is joining us on our journey in the Divine Region, she is to be trusted." Moltres looked at Lillie, leaned in towards her, looked Lillie over, causing Lillie to get nervous, and Moltres looked back at Ash and said, " _She's indeed trustworthy, she also has feelings for John_." John blushed immediately as Zapdos looked back at his trainer and said, " _Wow, did you not know_?" John then said, "I think we should change the subject Zapdos, so what do you think of our Pokémon Legendary?" Lillie was speechless, five seconds later, she shouted, "HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU CATCH THESE THREE, AND HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY'RE SAYING?!" Ash approached Lillie and said, "Right before you joined us, John and Dawn spent the night my house and we shared a dream where Arceus told us that we should watch our backs in the Divine Region and gave us the power to understand Pokémon, the morning we left my house, Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos appeared and said that we were to catch them and they joined our team." Lillie was again speechless, until she said, "When were you going to show me them?" and John spoke and he said, "We were planning on showing you soon, guess that time is now." John then said, "Anyway, Dinner's about ready, let's get our Pokémon out and start eating." Everyone nodded their heads and called out their other Pokémon.

As Ash, John, Dawn, Lillie, and their Pokémon ate, Dawn asked Lillie if she could scan her Pokémon, and Lillie nodded her head and Dawn scanned all of Lillie's Pokémon and the Pokédex Entries read, "Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon, a Bug type, when attacked by bird Pokémon, it resists by releasing a terrifically strong odor from its antennae, but it often becomes their prey. This Caterpie knows **String** **Shot** and **Tackle**. Cleffa, the Star-shape Pokémon, a Fairy type, Because of its unusual, starlike silhouette, people believe that it came here on a meteor. This Cleffa knows **Sweet** **Kiss** , **Magical** **Leaf** , **Metronome** , and **Pound**. Cranidos, the Headbutt Pokémon, a Rock type, CRANIDOS toughen up their already rock-hard heads by headbutting one another. This Cranidos knows **Headbutt** , **Head** **Smash** , and **Assurance**. Rockruff, the Puppy Pokémon, a rock type, as they develop, their disposition grows more violent and aggressive. Many Trainers find them too much to handle and abandon them. This Rockruff knows **Crunch** , **Stone** **Edge** , **Rock** **slide** , and **Fire** **Fang**." Dawn then asked the three legendary birds if she could scan them and they nodded their heads and scanned the three legendary birds and the Pokédex said, "Articuno, the Freeze Pokémon, an Ice and Flying Type. The magnificent, seemingly translucent wings of this legendary bird Pokémon are said to be made of ice. Articuno knows **Ice** **Beam** , **Mirror** **Coat** , **Ice** **Shard** , and **Mist**. Zapdos, the Electric Pokémon, an Electric and Flying type, this legendary bird Pokémon causes savage thunderstorms by flapping its glittering wings. Zapdos knows **Zap** **Cannon** , **Thunder** , **Drill** **Peck** , and **Aerial** **Ace**. Moltres, the flame Pokémon, a Fire and Flying type. This legendary Pokémon scatters embers with every flap of its wings. It is a thrilling sight to behold. Moltres knows **Flamethrower** , **Air** **Slash** , **Wing** **Attack** , and **Fire** **Spin**. Ash then said, "I just realized something, John, why don't you have any Pokémon with besides Zapdos?" John looked at Ash and said, "I was going to ask Professor Oak if I could get a Charmander, however, our mission made me forget that, but hey, I have Zapdos." Ash then said, "Okay, anyway, let's finish eating dinner." Everyone agreed and went back to eating. After everyone got done eating, they recalled all the Pokémon that wanted to go back into their Pokéballs, the group went to their respective tents and got into their sleeping bags and went to sleep. In Ash's mind, he was in a battle with another Trainer and her Pokémon, as Ash told Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, a Voice called out to him. Suddenly, a bright light appeared in front of Ash, causing him to cover his eyes. When the light faded and Ash uncovered his eyes, he saw a man standing in front of him, wearing a white suit and white shoes. The man then said, "Do you like the human Form I created, I figured since I saw you last I needed to give myself a human form." Ash then remembered a situation like this and said, "Arceus? Is that you." Arceus nodded his head and said, "I have a special gift for you alone coming your way, it should be arriving there in the morning, it is for you and you only." Ash nodded his head and said, "Okay Arceus, but I have a question to ask you," causing Arceus to say, "Go ahead, ask your question Ash." Ash then asked his question and he asked, "Could you give Lillie the ability to understand Pokémon?" Arceus was confused and asked Ash, "Why would you ask that, I thought you would ask me if I could give you more powers?" Ash shook his head and said, "No, I would like Lillie to understand Pokémon, she's going to be coming along with us to the Divine Region, and I would like for her to understand what our Pokémon are saying." Arceus thought about it and said, "Very well Ash Ketchum, I will gift Lillie the Ability to understand Pokémon, anything else that you wish to know?" Ash nodded his head and said, "Does John have feelings for Lillie?" Arceus smiled, slowly nodding his head, and saying, "Yes, John does have feelings for Lillie." Ash smiled and said, "Thank you Arceus, also one more thing, can you give all four of us to telepathically give commands, like Anabel did with her Pokémon." Arceus shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, I cannot do that, I do apologize Ash." Ash shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's okay Arceus, I was just wondering that's all." Arceus nodded his head and said, "You need to go now, you'll be waking up soon, time in the real world has gone farther then you think." Ash nodded his head and closed his eyes and when he opened them again, sunlight was shining into the tent and he sat up as John got up to. Ash then looked at John and said with a devilish smile, "I know you have feelings for Lillie." John immediately Blushed again and said as he got dress, "Well, I better go prepare Breakfast, you and Dawn should go get some fresh water, there's a river nearby." Ash chuckled and got dressed in his new outfit.

When Ash got out of the tent, he saw that Dawn was already out and Ash called her over and he told her that John needed fresh water. Dawn nodded her head and looked at Piplup and told him, "Make sure that nothing goes wrong." Piplup nodded his head as Ash said, "Watch Piplup, will you buddy." Pikachu nodded his head and Ash and Dawn walked to get fresh Water. As they walked, Ash said, "I had a visit by Arceus last night." Dawn looked at Ash and said, "Really, why didn't he merge our minds like he did the last time?" Ash stopped, sat down on a log and he said, "He told me that I was to be expecting another gift from him and that this gift was for me and me only." Dawn placed the jugs she was carrying and sat down next to Ash on the log and said, "Strange, I wonder what it will be this time?" Ash shrugged his shoulders and said, "Your guess is as good as mine." Dawn and Ash sat on the log for a few moment, completely quiet, until Ash said, "You did really good in the tournament, and you showed good sportsmanship." Dawn smiled and shoved some of her hair behind her ear and she said, "Thank you Ash, I appreciate it coming from you." Ash then rubbed the back of his head and said, "Don't mention it Dawn." Ash then stood up and said, "Let's get going, I can hear the river from here." Dawn nodded her head and the two continued walking to the river to get fresh water, unbeknownst to them that they were being watched.

* * *

 _Times Ash is mentioned: 135_

 _Times John is mentioned: 69_

 _Ash-to-John Ratio: 1.96_


	3. Chapter 3

**|X| TIME SKIP**

" **Pokémon move** "

' _Thoughts_ '

" _Telepathy_ "

After filling the jugs up with water, Ash and Dawn returned to the campsite to see John and Lillie were looking up, causing Ash and Dawn to look up as well and they were speechless. Floating a few feet above them was Mewtwo. Mewtwo then floated down to be in front of Ash, and he said, " _Greetings Ash Ketchum_." Ash was speechless until he said, "Hey Mewtwo, I take it Arceus sent you?" Mewtwo nodded his head and said, " _Yes, he has sent me to join your party while you are in the Divine Region_." Ash then said, "So you're the gift Arceus told me to except this morning." Mewtwo nodded his head and said, " _Yes, when he told me about your mission, I asked to join you on this mission_." Ash smiled and said, "Do you want me to catch you?" Mewtwo nodded his head, prompting Ash to take out a Pokéball and tapping the button on it against Mewtwo's finger, and Mewtwo went inside the Pokéball. After three shakes and a ding, Mewtwo was caught. Ash then said, "Alright, I caught Mewtwo." John then said, "Why didn't you shout it?" Ash then said, "I don't want people to know we have several legendary Pokémon with us."

"Okay, good point." Said, John. Ash nodded his head and called out Mewtwo and asked Mewtwo, "What do you like to eat Mewtwo?" and Mewtwo said, " _I usually eat Apples_." Ash nodded his head, walked over to his bag, and pulled out an Apple. Ash then tossed the Apple to Mewtwo, who caught it and Ash said, "Eat it, you must be hungry." Mewtwo nodded his head and took a bite of the Apple. Mewtwo then said, " _Excellent_." Ash smiled and said, "Well guys, we better start getting things together to eat breakfast, we still have a ways to go until we get to the Divine Region."

Everyone nodded their heads and finished getting breakfast ready, and as they ate, Ash asked Mewtwo, "Would you mind if I scanned you?" Mewtwo told Ash that he could and after Ash scanned him, the Pokédex said; "Mewtwo, the Genetic Pokémon. A Psychic-Type. Because its battle abilities were raised to the ultimate level, it thinks only of defeating its foes. This Mewtwo knows **Psychic** , **Brick Break** , **Ice Beam** , and **Focus Blast**." Ash smiled and said, "Nice moveset Mewtwo." Mewtwo nodded his head and said, " _I'm glad you think so_." Ash nodded his head and resumed eating his breakfast. John then said, "So Ash, when we get to the first Gym, what Pokémon do you plan to use?" Ash swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Well, since the Gym specializes in Ice-Types, depending on the number of Pokémon the Gym Leader uses, I'll use Infernape, Moltres, and Charizard." John then said, "Well, I'll fill out the role of Brock and Cilan and just be the cook." Ash smiled and nodded his head. Then Dawn said, "I think I'll give Gym Battles a try, have a little variation in my life." Ash nodded his head and John said, "That's good to hear Dawn, so let me guess, you plan to use Quilava, . Am I right?" Dawn nodded her head and said, "I'm not going to let no contests keep me from training." Ash smiled and said, "great, can't wait to cheer you on Dawn." Dawn blushed a light red before she said, "T...thank you, Ash."

After finishing breakfast, they packed their camp up and continued on towards Cerulean City. Along the way, Lillie was keeping her eyes open for any new Pokémon to catch and John gave pointers on how to win matches. Ash was looking back at John and Lille before he looked ahead and said, "I'm glad John and Lille are getting along well with each other." Dawn nodded her head and said, "If I recall, didn't Moltres say that Lille has feelings for John?"

"Yeah, she did, and I did tell you that John has feelings for Lillie," said Ash. Dawn nodded her head and said, "Yeah, so I think we should get those two together soon." Dawn nodded her head and said, "Yeah, but how to go about it?" As Ash was about to speak, an **Energy Ball** came right at them, but they managed to PSYduck before it hit any of them. Ash then looked up to see a Serperior and someone from his and John's journey in the Kanto Region. The boy had his arms crossed as he said, "Well, well, well, if it ain't you two, never thought I see your faces again."

As Ash stood up, he said, with hatred in his voice, "Hello Damian." John walked up to Ash and said, "What the hell do you want Damian." Damian stepped forward, and he said, "I have been ordered from my new Boss to capture the two of you and take you back to Team Rocket Headquarters." That was when they saw his outfit, a Black shirt, black pants, black shoes, and white gloves. John clenched his fist as he said, "You… joined Team Rocket?" Damian nodded his head and said, "Yup, I was offered powerful Pokémon in exchange for me joining. I accepted, and I now have a team of fully evolved Pokémon at my disposal, from every region. My first mission is, like I said, bring you two in." Ash then pulled out a Pokéball and said, "There's no way are we going with you. Infernape, I choose you!" and the Pokémon that came out was Infernape. John then pulled out his own Pokéball and said, "Fearow, I need your assistance!"

When Fearow appeared, Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and scanned Fearow, and the Pokédex said, "Fearow, the Beak Pokémon. A Normal and Flying type. Fearow is recognized by its long neck and elongated beak. They are conveniently shaped for catching prey in soil or water. It deftly moves its long and skinny beak to pluck prey. This Fearow knows **Drill Peck** , **Tri Attack** , **Fury Attack** , and **Hyper Beam**." Damian then said, "Serperior, use **Energy Ball** Again!" and Serperior fired another Energy Ball. Ash told Infernape to dodge the attack, which he did. John then said, "Fearow, use **Drill Peck** into **Fury Attack**!" and Fearow did as he was told and spun quickly towards Serperior. Damian then said, "Electivire, use **Thunder Punch**!" and a **Thunder Punch** struck Fearow and sent him flying into John, knocking him out. That was when the Pokemon that used **Thunder Punch** appeared and it was an Electivire. Dawn then scanned Electivire, and the Pokédex said, "Electivire, the Thunder Pokédex. An electric Type. A single Electivire can provide enough electricity for all the buildings in a big city for a year. This Electivire knows **Thunder Punch** , **Brick Break** , **Hammer Arm** , and **Bulldoze**." As Lillie ran over to John to check if he was okay, Dawn pulled out a Pokéball and threw it as she said, "Mamoswine, spotlight!" and the Twin Tusk Pokémon came out. Dawn then said, " **Ice Shard**!" and Mamoswine hurled chunks of Ice at Serperior and Electivire, hitting both and causing a lot of damage to Serperior, while still hurting Electivire, but not as much damage. Then Ash said, "Infernape, use **Flare Blitz** on your hands only and then use **Mach Punch** on Serperior." Infernape nodded his head and used **Mach punch** on Serperior, causing major Damage and knocking it out. Damian recalled Serperior and said, "What a waste. Electivire, use **Brick Break** on Infernape, then **Thunder Punch** on Fearow again, maximum Power, kill that Fucking bird." Electivire looked at Damian like he was crazy, but he heard Ash say, "You don't have to listen to him you know, you can be free, away from Team Rocket." Electivire looked at Ash and said, "Easy for you to say, you're not a Pokémon."

"That may be true, but you are a Powerful Pokémon, you can just grab him and keep him there until we get his Pokéballs," said Dawn. Damian then said, "Stop talking to my stupid Pokémon. Electivire, obey me and use **Brick Break** on Infernape, then **Thunder Punch** on Fearow again!" Ash then said to Damian, "Damian, why would you attack a helpless Pokémon, Fearow can't even defend itself." Damian scuffed it off and said, "I don't care, as long as I complete my mission, all of your Pokémon can die." that was when Electivire had enough and grabbed Damian by the face and lifted him in the air. Ash and Dawn smiled, and Ash ran to get the Pokéballs off Damian's Belt and said to Electivire, "Let him fly Electivire." Electivire nodded his head and threw Damian into the sky and Damian said, "I'll be back!"

After watching Damian disappear into the distance and John waking up, Ash called out all of the Pokémon Damian had with him. Besides Serperior and Electivire, Damian had an Azumarill, a Kabutops, A Pinsir, and a Houndoom. The Azumarill looked around and asked, "Where's Damian?" and Ash told her, "He's gone, we sent him flying. If you didn't belong to him, you're now free." All of the Pokémon cheered, showing to Ash and his friends that none of them belonged to him. Ash then said, "I'll give you all a choice, we can destroy your Pokéballs, and you can roam around being wild Pokémon. Or you can join one of us and accompany us on our journey. But we still would have to destroy your old Pokéballs" Serperior slithered up to Ash and said, "I would like to join one of your teams. You saved us from Damian, I feel obliged to join a team, and I choose the one with the White Hat." Ash smiled, along with Dawn and John. they then looked at Lillie and John said, "Serperior wishes to join your team, Lillie." Lillie was shocked and said, "Really, are you sure." John, Dawn, and Ash all nodded their heads and Ash said, "Yes, are you forgetting that we three can understand Pokémon." Lillie then sweatdropped and said, "Oh, right, I forgot."

"Okay, does anyone else want to join our teams?" asked Dawn. Azumarill and Electivire walked up to Dawn. Kabutops and Pinsir walked up to John, and Houndoom walked up to Lillie. Ash then said, "Well then, looks like we're all good. How about when we get to Cerulean City before we take care of catching you guys." All of Damian's former Pokémon agreed, and they all continued walking towards Cerulean City. Along the way, Ash said to Lillie, "Lillie, since Serperior and Houndoom want to join your team, you would have a full team of six, depending on who you catch first, one of them will be sent to Professor Oak. Which one do you plan on catching first?" Lillie looked at Ash and said, "I don't know, they're both fully evolved and have their own strengths and weaknesses, I don't want to pick one over the other. I want to give them all equal attention." Houndoom and Serperior heard the conversation Ash and Lillie were having. Serperior and Houndoom then looked at each other, nodded their heads, and Serperior waited for Lillie and Ash to catch up. Serperior then said, "Houndoom and I do not wish for you to be hated by the other if you can only catch one of us to make a full team while the other has to wait in a PC, we understand." Ash nodded his head and told Lillie what Serperior said, and Lillie was honored. Lillie then said, "Well, since I have an Ice-type, I'll catch Serperior first." Houndoom walked back to Lillie, Ash, and Serperior and said, "That's understandable since Ice-type Pokémon are weak to Fire-type Pokémon like me. Ice-types are terrified of us." Ash Told Lillie that Houndoom understood her decision. Lillie then said, "I sure wish I had the Ability to understand what Pokémon say like you guys." Ash then told Lillie not to worry and that any one of them, Ash, Dawn, or John, would translate for her.

"Thank you, Ash, I hope John does most of it." Ash smiled and said, "I'll make sure he does." After an hour of walking, Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie finally arrived in Cerulean City. Ash took a big breath in and said, "Smell that clean air, that's the smell of a clean Town." John nodded his head and said, "Yeah, we can thank Misty for that, she's done a lot as Gym Leader, every house is now powered by water." The group then heard a Voice say, "Hey you guys!" The three looked in the direction their names were called from and saw a Girl with Orange hair running up to them carrying an Azurill in her arms, and all three said, "Misty!"

After reaching the group, Misty said, "Ash, John, Lillie, it's so nice to see you again, what brings you to Cerulean?" and Ash replied by saying, "We're actually just passing through, we need to get to Celadon City to catch a plane heading for the Divine Region to find Gary. He went missing in that Region and Professor Oak is worried about him." John then added on by saying, "We saw him, he's not looking too good." Misty was shocked to hear that, she then said, "Gary's missing, that's terrible." Then Dawn interrupted the conversation by saying, "Ash, is this the Misty that gave you that Lure?" Ash nodded his head and said, "Yup. Dawn, Meet Misty Waterflower, the other person besides Brock who is a Gym leader and who traveled with me through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto." Ash then looked at Misty and said, "Misty, Meet Dawn Belitz, a Pokémon Coordinator from Sinnoh, she just competed in the Grand Festival in Johto, but she came in second. She tried her best, and she almost won." Dawn and Misty then shook hands as Dawn said, "Nice to finally meet you, but how do you know Lillie?" and Misty replied, "Simple, I know Lillie from when she, Ash, and their Friends in the Alola Region came to Kanto for a Special Session with Brock and myself."

"Yeah, and they came over to the Alola region for a few days," said Lillie. Misty then looked back at Ash and said, " So she saw the Lure?" Ash nodded his head, reached into his pocket and pulled out the Misty Special Lure. Ash then took Misty's hand and placed the Lure in it, and he said, "I know you gave me the lure Misty, but now I want to give it back to you, I've used it long enough. I appreciate you giving it to me when I was depressed, and I wish I could give you more to show how much your friendship means to me, but I, unfortunately, can't, I'm sorry Misty." Misty looked at the lure she gave Ash while he was battling the Battle frontier. She then looked at Ash and said, "Don't worry about that Ash, as Long as I have this, and I know you've used it, I will always think of our friendship and the places we've been." Misty then hugged Ash, who hugged back and causing Dawn to get a little jealous. When they parted from the hug, Ash said, "So how have you and your sisters been?"

Misty then told Ash that she and her sisters were doing okay. Misty then said, "To be honest, my sisters have decided to retire from show business and are now in charge of the Gym, so I've used my new free time to train my Pokémon. Want to have a Battle?" but before Ash could answer, Dawn said, "I will, I'll battle you, I want to see how a Gym leader battles against me." Misty and Ash looked at Dawn before John said, "Why not, let's give Dawn a taste of a Pokémon Battle." Ash looked at Misty, who said, "I don't mind battling a Coordinator, I always wanted to see how they would do in an actual battle, not the ones they perform in." Lillie also agreed with the match, so Ash said, "Okay, does a one-v-one Pokémon battle sound okay?" Misty and Dawn nodded their heads and Serperior slithered up to Dawn and said, "If she uses water type Pokémon, then your best bet is to pick me." Dawn nodded her head, looked at Misty and said, "I choose my Serperior here." Misty nodded her head and she led Dawn, Serperior, Ash, John, Lillie, and the Pokémon that are out of their Pokéballs to the battle field. When Misty was far enough away, Dawn asked Serperior, "So um.. What moves do you know?" and Serperior said, "Besides **Energy Ball** , I know **Iron Tail** , **Aqua Tail** , and **Leaf Storm**." Dawn nodded her head and when they finally got to the battlefield, Ash walked onto the Referee's spot and asked, "Do you guys want me to be referee?" Misty and Dawn then said, "Sure." prompting Ash to say, "The Battle between Misty Waterflower of the Cerulean City Gym and Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf town will now begin, each trainer may use only one Pokémon on the field, no substitutions are allowed. Trainers, please present your Pokémon."

"Gyarados, I choose you!" said Misty as she threw a Pokéball, and the Atrocious Pokémon appeared. The Dawn said, "Serperior, let's show Misty what we can do." Serperior nodded his head and slithered onto the field. Ash said, "The Challenger has the first attack, battle Begin!" Dawn started the battle by saying, "Alright Serperior, let's start things off by using **Leaf Storm**!" Serperior obeyed and used **Leaf Storm** against Gyarados, but Misty said, "Use **Hurricane** to deflect the **Leaf Storm**!" Gyarados obeyed and used **Hurricane** and both attacks met in the middle, causing an explosion to happen. Dawn then said, "Use **Energy Ball**." while Misty said, " **Hydro Pump**!" and again, both moves met in the middle.

It went on like that for a few minutes. Both Gyarados and Serperior were getting tired. Dawn then said in her head, " _This is taking too long, Serperior's too tired, he'll get hit, I need to do something."_ Dawn then said, "Serperior, can you still use **Energy Ball**?" Serperior nodded his head, Dawn then said, "Okay, use **Energy Ball** at the wall on the right, **Energy Ball** at the wall on the left, and then an **Energy Ball** straight ahead." John and Lillie were confused by what Dawn said and they saw Serperior shoot three **Energy Balls** in the directions Dawn said. Misty saw the **Energy Ball** coming in on Gyarados's right and told Gyarados to use **Hurricane** on the **Energy Ball** coming in. He did, but got hit by the **Energy Ball** coming in on his left and the **Energy Ball** that was coming straight at him. Dawn then said, " **Leaf Storm** into **Iron Tail**!" Serperior obeyed and used **Leaf Storm** on Gyarados, causing more Damage to gyarados. Serperior's Tail then turned a Metallic Color and slammed it against Gyarados. Even though it didn't do a whole lot of Damage, Gyarados was having a hard time fighting back. Dawn smiled and said, "Time for the final blow, use **Leaf Storm** into **Energy Ball**!" Serperior obeyed and used Leaf Storm and then energy Ball and both moves struck Gyarados, ending the battle. Ash then said, "Gyarados is unable to battle, Serperior is the winner, which means the victory goes to Dawn of Twinleaf Town."

Dawn jumped in the air as Misty walked over to Gyarados and said to him, "You fought hard Gyarados, now take a good long rest." Misty then recalled Gyarados into his Pokéball. Misty then walked over to Dawn and said, "Congratulations Dawn, you bested me." Dawn smiled and said, "Well, I have to thank you for a tough Battle Misty. It sure did give me a first hand experience when Battling a Gym Leader." Misty nodded her head and reached into her Pocket as she said, "I know you're not taking part in the Pokémon league here in Kanto, but i think you should have this." Misty then handed Dawn a Cascade Badge. Misty then said, "You take this Badge, consider it a gift, to bring you good luck in your journey in the Divine Region. I hope you guys find Gary." Ash nodded his head and said, "I believe we will. We have to find him, if we don't Professor Oak will worry himself to death." John, Lillie, and Dawn all nodded their heads in agreement. Misty then said, "Well, I'll get Brock and we'll keep an eye on him, with help from your mother and Tracy of course." Ash thanked Misty, looked at the others, and said, "Let's get going, we have one more city to pass through before we get to Celadon City." John, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads and after saying goodbye to Misty, and getting Serperior healed, they left Cerulean City to head to Saffron City.

Meanwhile, in the divine Region, Gary was tied up when a woman in a black dress, silver Shoes, and wearing a black cloak walked up to him and she said, "Gary Oak, born in the Kanto region, hometown Pallet Town. Grandson of Professor Samuel Oak, Pokémon Trainer turned researcher turned Pokémon thief. What drew you to the Divine Region?" and Gary said, "I'm not telling you anything. I've seen what you people have done to this Region, and I wanted to stop it when your minions grabbed me." the woman then said, "Now Gary, is that any way to talk to a person who is trying to help you."

"Tying me up, accusing me of Pokémon theft, does that seem like you helping me?" asked ary. The woman knelt to look Gary in his eyes and said, "Of course, as the Regions head of international Liaison, it's my job to help anyone who is not from our region." Gary then said, "By controlling the Populous? That's not helping them, that's enslaving them. Your cult…" but he was interrupted by the woman slapping him and she said, "Don't you ever accuse us of enslaving the People, we're helping them find their true Potential, I'm sure in time you will see things our way." The Woman then turned around and walked away.

Back in Kanto, Ash, John, Lillie, and Dawn were walking along route five when Ash's stomach started to rumble. Ash then said, "I guess I'm a little hungry." Just then, Lillie's, Dawn's, and John's Stomachs also rumbled, prompting Ash to say, "I guess we're ALL hungry." John nodded his head and said, "I agree, let's break for lunch and eat. I'll get everything set up." Ash nodded head and they all called out their Pokémon, and with this being the first time Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, and Mewtwo were seen by the other Pokémon, they were all surprised. ( **A.N.: I know that I should have had them be introduced when Ash and Company ate dinner in the last chapter, but I was trying to figure out what Pokémon to give to John besides Fearow.** ) Ash then said, "Calm down you guys, Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, and Mewtwo have joined our teams because Arceus told us that we could use them in our journey in the divine region." Dawn then said to Ash, "Don't forget Ash, we still have Serperior and Electivire, Azumarill, Kabutops, Pinsir, and Houndoom to catch." Ash nodded his head and said, "John, Lillie, do you want to catch the Pokémon that want to join your teams now?"

John and Lillie nodded their heads and after walking over to Dawn, all three threw the six Pokéballs that belonged to the Pokémon into the Air and all six used a move and destroyed their Original Pokéballs. After which, John, Lillie, and Dawn caught the six Pokémon and added them to the team while Houndoom went into the Xtransceiver for Lillie to use later, John now had five Pokémon with him; those Pokémon being Fearow, Zapdos, A Graveler, Kabutops, and Pinsir. Dawn had Articuno, Nidoking, Azumarill, Electrivre, Quilava, Mamoswine, Pachirisu, Piplup, Togekiss, and Buneary, for a total of nine Pokémon, and Lillie had six Pokémon. Serperior, Snowy, Cranidos, her Rockruff, Starie, and Silky. Meanwhile, Ash still had Pikachu, Moltres, Lycanroc, Greninja, Goodra, Infernape, Krookodile, Sceptile,and Mewtwo.

After getting lunch set up and prepared, and giving the Pokémon their Pokéfood, Ash and company began eating the food that John prepared. Ash then said, after slurping up some noodles, "John, you are a culinary Master, probably even better then Brock and Cilan." Ash then couldn't help to feel like two hearts were just broken when he said that, but John said, "Well, I did learn the recipe from Brock, i just improved it with the things I learned from Cilan. So actually, i just took what I learned from Brock and Cilan and combined it, so you have to thank those two." Ash nodded his head and said, "Okay, I will."

After they got done eating, Ash and Dawn decided to train for the Divine Region while John and Lillie cleaned up. John looked at Lillie and asked her, "Did you see the way Dawn looked at Misty when she hugged Ash?" Lillie nodded her head and said, "Yeah, It almost looked like jealousy. You don't think Dawn has feelings for Ash, do you?" John looked at Dawn and Ash battling before he said, "I do think Lillie, I do think so." meanwhile, Ash and Dawn had Pikachu and Piplup spar off with Pikachu using **Quick Attack** and Piplup using **Bubblebeam**. Ash then said, "Keep it up Pikachu." then Dawn said, "Concentrate, keep firing, your accuracy needs to show in our first official Gym battle." Piplup kept firing Bubblebeam at Pikachu, but kept missing. Piplup was getting furious until an idea came to mind, he watched how Pikachu was moving and fired another Bubble beam to a place where Pikachu wasn't, for about 2 seconds. As Pikachu ran, he didn't see the bubbles, and he ran right into them. Piplup cheered as Ash walked over to check on Pikachu.

Ash asked PIkachu, "Are you alright Buddy?" and Pikachu nodded his head and said, "Yeah, I'll be fine." Pikachu then hopped out of Ash's arms and walked over to Piplup and said, "That was smart Piplup, firing a Bubble Beam at a place where I would end up." Piplup smiled and said, "It took me a while to realize that you were moving in a pattern." Pikachu sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head. Ash then said, "Okay, now let's see how Azumarill fairs in a battle." Dawn nodded her head and said, "Azumarill, you ready?" Azumarill nodded her head and ran in front of Dawn. Dawn then pulled out her Pokédex and scanned Azumarill and the Pokédex said, "Azumarill, the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon. A Water/Fairy type and the evolved form of Marill. Azumarill can make balloons out of air. It makes these air balloons if it spots a drowning Pokémon. The air balloons enable the Pokémon in trouble to breathe. This Azumarill knows **Hydro Pump** , **Ice Beam** , **Giga Impact** , and **Brick Break**." Ash then said, "Well then, I think Lycanroc will battle Azumarill." Lycanroc nodded his head and leaped in front of Ash to battle Azumarill. Ash then said, "Let's start off with **Bite**!" and Lycanroc obeyed and used **Bite** to try and do Damage to Azumarill. Dawn then said, "Azumarill, Dodge and use **Brick Break**!" Azumarill jumped up to dodged Lycanroc's attack and delivered a swift chop to Lycanroc's head, causing Major Damage to the Wolf Pokémon. Ash then said, "Use **Accelerock**!" and Lycanroc obeyed Ash and charged at Azumarill at high speeds, hitting Azumarill and sending it into the nearby River. After jumping out of the River, Azumarill shot a **Hydro Pump** at Lycanroc, getting a hit and sending Lycanroc into a tree. Ash ran to Lycanroc as Dawn walked over to Azumarill and said, "Azumarill, that was not called for, we were having a friendly sparring match." Azumarill looked at Dawn and said, "So, he shouldn't have sent me into the river."

"That's because **Accelerock** make the user attack first and it always hits." said Dawn. Dawn then heard Ash struggling and she turned around, only to see Ash trying to keep Lycanroc still. She then saw that Lycanroc's eyes were Red. When Dawn asked Ash what happened, Ash said, "My Lycanroc doesn't like to have it's fur messed up, so Azumarill shooting a Hydro Pump at him and smashing him into a tree made my Lycanroc go Berserk. He's controlled it before, but it's been a while since he got dirty, I guess he couldn't control it like before." Lycanroc kept trying to break free of Ash's grip as Pikachu hopped over to him and Ash and Pikachu said, "Calm Down Lycanroc, I'm sure he didn't mean to do." Then Lycanroc said, "LIKE DISTORTION WORLD HE DIDN'T. HE KNEW WE WERE SPARRING AND HE STILL WANTED TO GET MY FUR DIRTY. Let me go Ash, I want to teach that blue watery bunny a lesson." Ash refused to let go of Lycanroc when everyone heard that, and just as Lycanroc was about to get free, everyone heard someone singing. Soon enough, Lycanroc was calmed down. Ash, Dawn, and John all recognized the singing and searched around. They kept searching until Ash spotted where the singing was coming from and it was from a Pokémon sitting on a Stump. Ash, Dawn, and John then shouted, "Meloetta!" before they ran to the Melody Pokémon. After she was done singing, Meloetta flew around Ash, John, and Dawn as she said, "Ash, John, Dawn, it is great to see you three again." Meloetta then hugged Ash as he said, "It's great to see you too Meloetta, what are you doing here?"

"Lord Arceus sent me to help you in the Divine Region, he wants to make sure that you have enough power to take on the cult in the Divine region." said Meloetta, Ash looked at John, Dawn, and Lillie and said, "I guess Arceus has great confidence in us." Lillie nodded her head and said, "Not only that, but I think Lycanroc is calmed down now, look." Ash, Dawn, and John looked at Lycanroc and Azumarill and saw the two playing together. Ash then looked back at Meloetta and said, "Your music helped calm Lycanroc down, thank you Meloetta, but what about Ridley?" Meloetta told Ash that Ridley was okay with her joining Ash on his journey. Meloetta then said, "To be honest, I kind of missed Oshawott and Piplup." Ash then looked at Piplup and said, "Hey Piplup, look over here!"

When Piplup looked up, he saw Meloetta and blushed a bright red and ran over to Meloetta as Meloetta flew over to him and the two shared a hug before they danced around in a circle. Piplup then said, "What are you doing here Meloetta?" and Meloetta said, "Well, I came here to join Ash on his journey in the Divine region, but I didn't know you and Dawn were going to be here." Meloetta then looked at Ash and said, "Is it okay I join Dawn's group instead, I would like to be closer to Piplup." Piplup's eyes turned into hearts after he heard that. Ash smiled and said, "I don't see why not, and Dawn can use you in Pokémon Contests if you want." Meloetta looked at Dawn and said, "I wouldn't mind if you do that. May I please join your team." Dawn smiled and said, "Of course, I don't mind at all." Dawn then pulled out a Pokéball and Meloetta on the head and she went inside the Pokéball. After three shakes and a ding, Dawn successfully caught meloetta.

In his chambers, Arceus watched as Ash, Dawn, Lillie, and John were getting things packed up when the tower Duo, Lugia and Ho-Oh flew in. Lugia looked at Ash and his friends before he said, "Are sure it was wise to entrust Humans to deal with the cult in the unseen region?" Arceus looked at the Diving Pokémon and said, "Ash and his friends have helped us in the past, now it is time they help us again. I have sent The bird Trio, Mewtwo, and Meloetta, to help Ash and his friends in the Divine Region." then Ho-oh said, "Our father is correct, Lugia, if the humans that have helped up in the past are able to figure out what is going on the Unseeable Region." Lugia looked at Ho-oh and said, "Well, Brother, we would be able to look if our father would let us fly over the divine Region."

"SILENCE!" shouted Arceus, causing Lugia and Ho-oh to lower their heads. Arceus then said, "Do not worry Lugia, I'm sure our chosen champion and his companions will be victorious, and if our chosen Champion needs assistance, I will ask for volunteers to go aid him, is that understood?" Lugia nodded his head and Arceus said, "Good, now leave my chambers at once." Lugia and Ho-oh nodded their heads and left Arceus's chambers. Back with Ash and the others, they finished getting things packed up and were on the move when a net came down over their heads and they all heard a familiar voice said, "Happy to see me again?" they looked up and saw Damian. Ash then said, "What do you want now?" Damian hopped down and said, "I told you I'll be back, and like I told you before, I'm here to bring you to Team Rocket Headquarters, my leader has somethings to tell you." Ash then said, "Forget it, we're not going to be forced into Team rocket, we're not giving up our Pokémon, and there is absolutely NO WAY we're being held under this net, PIkachu, use **Iron Tail** on the NET!" Pikachu nodded his head and after his Tail turned a Metallic Color, Pikachu cut the net open to let everyone out. Damian then pulled a Pokéball from his Pocket and said, "Emboar, let's go!" and the Pokémon that came out was the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon Emboar. Dawn quickly took out her Pokédex and scanned Emboar.

After scanning, the Pokédex said, "Emboar, the Mega Fire Pig Pokémon, and the final evolution for Tepig. A Fire & Fighting type, It has mastered fast and powerful fighting moves. It grows a beard of fire. This Emboar knows **Flamethrower** , **Flame Blitz** , **Flame Charge** , and **Giga Impact**." Ash then pulled out a Pokéball and said, "Greninja, I choose you!" and the Ninja Pokémon appeared. As then said, " **Water Shuriken**!" and Greninja formed throwing stars made out of water and threw them at Emboar, hitting Emboar and doing major damage to it. Ash then said, "Greninja, time to power up!" Greninja nodded his head and his eyes glowed red. Ash then said, as he and Greninja made the same moves in sync, "We become stronger than ever before." Greninja was then surrounded by water, in which, everyone watched as he changed into a new Form. the water then went onto Greninja's back to form a giant water shuriken. John smiled as Dawn and Lillie was in Awe. John then said, "Ladies, and Damian, say hello to Ash-Greninja." Dawn looked at John and asked, "How do you know that?" and John replied, "I watched Ash battle in the Kalos League. I also called him after the league ended and asked him about it, he called the form Ash-Greninja." Dawn and Lillie then looked back at Ash battling. Ash told Greninja to use **Double Team** and **Water Shuriken** at the same time. Greninja obeyed and used Double team to surround Emboar. The Greninja clones and original then grabbed the shurikens off of their backs and threw them at Emboar, who got hit by all of them and was defeated. Damian then recalled Emboar and sent out Rotom and threw a Lawn Mower out and said, "You know what to do!" Rotom obeyed and went inside to take control of the Lawnmower and became Mow Rotom. Ash then said, " Keep back Greninja!" as Damian said, " **Electro Ball**!" and Mow Rotom fired an electric Orb at Greninja, who managed to Dodge it. Dawn ran up to Ash and said, "Let me and my Quilava handle Rotom, you and Greninja deal with Damian." Ash nodded his head and said, "Greninja, ignore Rotom, go after Damian." Greninja nodded his head and jumped backwards again.

Dawn then pulled out a Pokéball and said, "Quilava, spotlight and use **Flamethrower**!" and the Volcano Pokémon came out and used **Flamethrower** on Mow Rotom, scoring a direct hit on it, sending Rotom out of the Lawnmower. Damian was furious and reached for another Pokéball, but Greninja appeared behind him and grabbed his arms and held them behind his Back. Ash smiled at that, looked at John, and told him to call Officer Jenny, and John said, "I placed the call the moment after you called out Greninja." Ash smiled and a few minutes later, Officer Jenny arrived to take Damian to the local Police Station.

With Damian out of the way, Ash and his friends continued on their journey to get to Celadon City. Along the way, John pulled up the list of Gyms in the divine Region and sorted them by number of Badges needed to battle the Gym Leader and he saw something. John then said, "Guys, they made the Gym order by the number of a certain Type." John then saw that Ash, Dawn, and Lillie were giving him questioning looks, prompting him to say, "They organized the Gyms in order of how many Pokémon a certain type has, Ice is first because it has forty-four Pokémon for it. Next is Fairy, then it's ghost, and so on. I honestly don't know why I didn't see it in the Pokémon Center, but the Gyms are set in order by the number of Pokémon the type has."

"Wow, that's one way of having your gyms sorted." said Dawn. Ash nodded his head and said, "Yeah, but enough about that, we need to get to Celadon City, and we have to pass through Saffron City to get through." John then said, "Why don't we say hi to Sabrina while we're in town?" and Ash said, "Only if we go past the Gym, we need to get to Celadon City as soon as possible if we want to catch a flight to the Divine Region." John nodded his head and the four friends continued traveling to Celadon city.

After walking for what seemed like forever, Ash and his friends finally reached Saffron city. John then told Ash, "I'll meet you guys at the Pokémon Center, I'm going to the Pokémart to get more supplies, have to make sure that we have everything topped off before we go to the Divine Region, or should we call it the Truven Region?" Ash realized that John had a point and said, "That's a good point, should we still call it the Divine Region, or the Truven Region?" Dawn said that they should call it the Truven Region, as did Lillie. Ash then said, "So we're all in agreement, from now on it's the Truven Region." John, Lillie, and Dawn nodded their heads and John went to the Pokémart as Ash, Lillie, and Dawn walked to the Pokémon center.

When Ash, Dawn, and Lillie got to the Pokémon Center, they gave Nurse Joy their Pokéballs and asked if they can get check. Nurse Joy nodded her head and said, "Certainly, it should take a couple of minutes." Nurse Joy and Chansey then walked back to check Ash's, Dawn's, and Lillie's Pokémon. Ash then decided to call his mother. When he did, his mother said, "Ash, so nice of you to call, are you in the Divine Region yet?" and Ash replied, "Not yet, we're in Saffron City, John's getting supplies for the Truven Region. It was called that before it became the Divine Regio. Mom, I have a lot to tell you."

Meanwhile, John just entered the Pokémart to get the extra supplies he needed when he saw a familiar face. John then said, "Richie!" when the boy John called to turned around, it was in fact Richie. Richie walked over to John and the two shook hands. Richie then asked John what he was doing in Saffron City and John said, "I was going to ask you the same question. But, since you asked first, Ash and I are traveling with two of our friends to a Region called the Truven Region, how about you?" and Richer Told John that he was going through the core Regions to catch and Study as many Pokémon as he could for the Professors. John smiled and said, "That's cool. Well, I better get back to what I was doing, I'll see you later Richie."

"You too John." replied Richie and the two shook hands before Richie left the Pokémart and John began shopping for supplies he and the others might need. Back with Ash, he just got done talking to his Mother when he walked up to Dawn and Lillie. Dawn told Ash that Nurse Joy finished giving their Pokémon a check up and Dawn gave Ash his Pokéballs back. Ash thanked Dawn for keeping his Pokéballs safe, and Dawn blushed a little before she said, "It's no big deal Ash." Just then, John walked in with two bags full and he said to Ash, "You will never guess who I just saw."

"Sabrina?" said Ash in a Joking manner, and John said, "No, it was actually Richie, he's traveling the seven Core Regions to catch and study as many Pokémon as he could for the Professors." Ash was surprised, he didn't think Richie would become an assistant to the Professors. Ash then said, "Wow, I didn't think Richie would become an assistant to the Professors." John nodded his head and said, "Neither did I. But anyway, I finished restocking our supplies, so we're ready to continue heading to Celadon City to get a Plane to the Truven Region.

As the group left Saffron City, John and Lillie hung back to discuss how to get Dawn and Ash together while Dawn and Ash discussed on how to get John and Lillie together. Ash said to Dawn, "I think you should try and convince Lillie to admit her feelings towards John, I know Moltres said it, but I think it would be better if Lillie told him directly." Dawn nodded her head and said, "I just wish John could just tell Lillie how he feels about her." Ash also nodded his head and said, "Yeah, it would be nice if…" but he was interrupted by a net coming out of nowhere and landing on top of them. John and Lillie saw this and ran to help but were caught by a net as well.

Just then, three Team Rocket Grunts appeared along with Damian. Ash then said, "For arceus sake will you just leave us alone!" and Damian said, "Not until you hear what Giovanni has to say." Damian then placed a little device down and Giovanni appeared. Giovanni then said, "Greetings Ash, I know things look bad, but believe me when I say that we are your side." Ash told Giovanni, "really, us being under nets shows that your on our side, that makes so much sense." that made Giovanni role his eyes and said, "Those Nets are there so you can finally listen to what I have to say." then John said, "We already told Damian that we're not joining Team Rocket." then Giovanni said, "I don't want you to join, I wanted to tell you that if you ever need help from Team Rocket in the Truven Region, we will give you our support." Everyone was speechless until Ash said, "Are you saying that you want to help?" and Giovanni replied, "Yes, the Truven Region's occupiers are Team Rockets main rivals. We've been waging a secret war with each other for years, we've had our victories, but we've also had our defeats. For example, summoning the forces of nature in the Unova Region so I could launch an attack against their Navy." Then Ash said, in a shocked and surprised tone, "That's what you wanted them for?" and Giovanni nodded his head. Giovanni then said, "Yes, that is exactly what I wanted to use them for. All the Pokémon we take we use in our war, but we've losing several battles because our plans have been foiled by you and your friends." Ash then said, "Seriously?" and saw Giovanni nodded his head and John said, "But you're a Criminal Organization, how are we supposed to know if you're telling us the truth?"

"You only have my word on it." replied Giovanni. Giovanni then told Damian and the three Team Rocket Grunts to take the nets off of Ash and his friends. After they did, John said to Giovanni, "On that, we agree on Giovanni." Ash, Dawn, and Lillie looked at John and said, "What, we do only have his word to go by." Ash nodded his head, looked at Giovanni and said, "Is that all you have to say?" and Giovanni nodded his head, prompting Ash to say, "Good, if we need help we'll call." Giovanni nodded his head again said, "Of course you will." and Giovanni ended the video chat.

Ash dusted off the dirt on his pants, looked at Damian and said, "Would have been nice for you to just say it and not attack us in the first place." Damian smiled a crooked Smile and said, "To be honest, I wanted Payback for what you did to me, so that's why I attacked you. My orders were just escort you to Team Rocket HQ, but I couldn't resist attacking you." Ash and his friends gave Damian a look that read, "really?" and Damian just laughed and told the grunts to withdraw. As they walked away, Damian said to Ash and John, "Watch your back you two, you can't trust people you meet there." Ash and John kept looking at Damian and the Team Rocket Grunts walk off and out of sight before Ash said, "I wonder what Damian meant by that?" and John shrugged his Shoulders before he said, "I have no clue, but let's get going, it's about to get dark soon." Ash, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads in agreement and they continued walking until it got dark and they set camp up for the night. As john and Lillie got dinner ready, Ash and Dawn, with help from their Pokémon, got the tents set up. Ash then got an idea, and said, "Hey John, can I talk to you real quick." John nodded his head and walked over to Ash as he walked out of earshot of Dawn and Lillie and Ash said, "I'm going to take Dawn to get some more wood for the firepit, while we're gone, I think you should tell Lillie how you feel." john immediately blushed and whispered, "Absolutely not, what if Zapdos was just joking and she doesn't have feelings for me? What if she refuses to talk to me after I tell her about my feelings?"

Ash interrupted John by saying, "You'll never know unless you talk to her, come on man, it wouldn't hurt." John gave Ash a serious look and said, "Since when were you an expert on relationships Ash 'Too dense to see girls hitting on him in every region except Iris' Ketchum." Ash then said, "The joke's on you John, I knew all those girls , except Iris, were hitting on me and tried to make me fall head over heels for them. But there was one girl who actually had that effect." John was wondering who Ash was talking about until he remembered the other person traveling with them besides Lillie. John then said, "Dawn?" and Ash nodded his head, causing John to say, "Well, why don't you just tell her."

"Hang on now, this was about you, not me." Ash told John. John then said, "Well, maybe you shouldn't have told me that little fact, I'm going to get back to cooking dinner." John then walked back to finish making dinner, as Ash walked back to Dawn. When dinner was done, they all ate dinner peacefully as Ash and Dawn talked about strategies that they would use in their Gym Battles when a robotic hand came up from behind Ash and Dawn and grabbed Pikachu and Piplup, causing Ash and Dawn to spin around and watch Pikachu and Piplup get pulled into a cage that was under the basket of a hot air balloon in the shape of a Meowth's head. Ash then clenched his fist and said, "TEAM ROCKET!" then Dawn said, "I thought you guys weren't going to bother us anymore?"

"That's what james said, we never agreed to leave you twerps alone." said Jessie. Then Meowth said, "Besides, what he doesn't know won't…" but he was cut off by a voice saying, "Carnivine, use **Bullet Seed**!" and a fury of bullets struck where the cage was attached to the balloon and as the cage fell, the voice then said, "Inkay, use **Psychic** to catch the cage!" then a blue Aura surrounded the cage, Pikachu, and Piplup and they were sat down on the ground and bars removed to allow Pikachu and Piplup to ran towards Ash and Dawn and into their arms. The Voice then said, "Yamask, Amoonguss, use **Shadow Ball** and **Razor Leaf** on the Balloon, bring it down." then a Shadowy Blob and several Sharp Leafs flew at and struck the Balloon, causing it t crash to the ground. As Jessie and Meowth got up, they, along with Ash and his friends, looked at where the moves and the voice came from and saw James with his Inkay, Yamask, Amoonguss, Carnivine, Mime Jr., and Mareanie facing them. But James wasn't in his Team Rocket outfit, he wore a dark blue Shirt, Jeans, tennis shoes, a brown vest, and a Cap. Jessie then asked James why he attacked them, and James said, "Because You went against my wishes and captured Pikachu, after I asked you two to leave them alone. I thought I made it very clear not to attack them and try to steal Pikachu, but you went against what I asked. I trusted you two and you betrayed me, for that, I'm resigning from Team Rocket. Everyone, attack them!" James's Pokémon attacked Jessie and Meowth and sent them flying into the distance.

James then recalled all of his Pokémon and walked over to Ash, John, Dawn, Lillie, and their Pokémon. When James got to the group, Ash said, "Thank you James, you saved our Pikachu and Piplup." James nodded his head and said, "Not a problem Ash, all I ask in return is that you let me help you on mission in the Divine Region." Ash replied by saying, "We're calling it the Truven Region, and do you mean you want to come with us to the Truven Region to help us find Gary?" and James nodded his head and said, "Yes, i wish to help you find Gary and if it's possible, free the Truven Region." Ash smiled, as did John, Dawn, and Lillie, and Ash said, "I always thought there was good in you James, you're more than welcomed to join us in the Truven Region." James smiled and the two shook hands. As they got back to eating, Dawn looked at Meloetta and said, "Hey Meloetta, can I scan you?" and Meloetta nodded her head, prompting Dawn to take out her Pokédex and scanned Meloetta. The Pokédex then read, "Meloetta, the Melody Pokémon, a normal and Psychic type. The melodies sung by Meloetta have the power to make Pokémon that hear them happy or sad. This Meloetta knows **Psychic** , **Relic Song** , **Close Combat** , and **Hyper voice**." James then said, "I'm still surprised that the three of you caught so many Legendary Pokémon." Ash nodded his head and said, "Yeah, they're only going to be used in Dire Situations." James nodded his head and said, "Of course." Ash then asked James, "Is Team Rocket part of a secret war with the cult in the Truven Region?" and James said, "Since Jessie, Meowth, and I were always after you guys, I don't exactly know if we are or not, but I have heard Giovanni send a few dozen grunts to this place called the divine Region."

"The Divine Region is the Truven Region James, we chose to call it by its original name." Said Ash. James then said, "Oh, alright then." James then continued eating as he said, "This food is really delicious, and you made this John?" and John nodded his head and said, "Yeah, it's my own secret recipe, I'm glad you like it." James nodded his head and they all finished dinner and went to bed.

 **|X| THE NEXT MORNING**

Ash and his friends, including James, got up, dressed, and broke down camp and continued heading to Celadon City. James told John, "That was the best breakfast I've eaten in a long time." John smiled and said, "Thanks, I've learned from Brock and Cilan when it comes to cooking food." James then said, "I can tell." then Ash said, "Yeah, thanks to Brock and Cilan, John has become one of the best cooks I know." James then said, "Now I can't wait to have more of your cooking John." John smiled and said, "Thanks James." Pikachu then said, "You better make some more of that Pokémon food I love." Then Piplup said, "Same here." John sweatdropped before he said, "Don't worry you two, I'll make more Batches of it." James then looked at John and said, "You understood what they were saying?" and John said, "Well, yeah, I mean we can't actually hear what they're saying, but I assumed that they wanted more of the Pokémon food that I make for them. I have my own recipe for making Pokémon food for each type." Ash then said, "Yeah, we've come to figure out what they're saying to us." James then said, "I see, alright then." Ash then looked forward and saw buildings and he ran forwarded as the others ran to catch up. When Ash stopped, he said, "We're here guys." as the others got to him, they saw their destination, Celadon City, and one stop closer to the Truven Region and finding Gary.

Times Ash is mentioned:238

Times John is mentioned:119

Ash-to-John Ratio: 2


	4. Chapter 4

**|X| TIME SKIP**

" **Pokémon move"**

' _Thoughts_ '

" _Telepathy_ "

After entering Celadon City, Ash led the way to the Pokémon Center to call Professor Oak to let him know where they were. As Ash placed the call, John and Lillie were having a discussion about snowy and John said, "Snowy seems to be in perfect health, you must have been taking care of her really well." Lillie blushed and said, "Yes, I have been taking care of her, she was my first Pokémon after all. Now, I have a Cleffa, a Caterpie, A Cranidos, and my very own Rockruff, I have five Pokémon on my team, I'm so happy." John smiled as he continued talking to Lillie. Meanwhile, Ash continued talking to Professor Oak as he said, "We'll give you a call when we get to the Region Gary's in." and Professor Oak said, "Thank you Ash, he's all I have left of my Son, please find him." Ash nodded his head and said, "Not to worry Professor, we're not leaving the Truven Region until we find him. By the way, the Divine Region's original name is the Truven Region, and everyone with me agreed to call it that from now on, and guess what, James left Team Rocket and has joined us on our journey." Professor Oak smiled and said, "I always thought he had good in him." Ash nodded his head and said, "As did I, no matter how many times they tried to take my Pokémon." Professor Oak chuckled and Ash said, "I have to go, we need to get tickets to go to the Truven Region." Professor Oak nodded his head and said, "Okay Ash, be careful and bring Gary home." Ash nodded his head and the two ended the conversation as Dawn and James walked up to him and James said, "Don't worry Ash, we'll find him." Ash looked at James and smiled before he said, "I know James, I know." Ash then called to John and Lillie and said, "John, Lillie, let's go, we need to buy tickets to the Truven Region." John and Lillie nodded their heads and after they got all their Pokémon checked out, they left the Pokémon center to head to the Airport.

In the Airport, Ash and the others asked the ticket receptionist how much tickets were to go to the Truven Region, and she said, "Let me take a look." after typing a few words, the receptionist said, "I'm sorry sir, but there is no Truven Region on my systems." Ash then said, "Well, try the Divine Region." after a few more typing in words, the receptionist said, "That showed up, there's one plane heading there for a price of 250 Pokédollars per Person." John was reaching for his wallet but was stopped by James when he said, "Don't worry, I have this." and pulled out 1,250 Pokédollars and handed the money to the Ticket Receptionist and after a few punches into the computer, five tickets printed out and the receptionist handed them to James and said, "Enjoy your flight to the divine Region." James handed a ticket to Ash, John, Dawn, and Lillie and the receptionist said, "Please make your way to Door 15 and your plane will be taking off in a couple of minutes." everyone nodded their heads and made their way to Door 15. John pulled out his Xtransceiver and handed it to Ash so he could let Professor Oak know that they were on their way to the Truven Region.

As the gang waited for the plane to take off, Ash and Dawn sat next to each other, their respective Partner Pokémon on their laps, James sat in the Seat next to the window and John sat between him and Lillie. Lillie had Snowy on her lap as she waited and John asked Lillie if he could pet Snowy, and Lillie said, "I don't see the problem with that, go right ahead." John slowly petted Snowy as his hand moved down Snowy's back and it felt good for Snowy. Ash and Dawn watched what happened and said in their heads, " _A match made in heaven_." Soon the Captain came on and he said, "Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking and I welcome all to Divine Airlines flight 503, we will be making a few Stops in Hoenn and Unova before we make our journey to the Divine Region. I do thank you for your patience for we are about to take off, so please make sure all your seat belts are buckled and all cellphones are turned off, thank you and enjoy the flight." John turned off the Xtranscevier while Lillie and Dawn turned off their phones and the plane took off towards Hoenn first.

When the plane got to cruising altitude, The Pilot told the passengers that they were okay to unbuckle their seatbelts and were free to move about the Cabin. Ash unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up to stretch and the stewardess asked him if he needed anything and Ash asked Dawn, "Do you want anything?" and Dawn said, "Some water would be nice." Ash then looked back at the Stewardess and said, "Three waters please, one for me, one for my friend, and one for my pikachu." and the Stewardess nodded her head and handed Ash three bottles of Water then Dawnq asked for one for Piplup and the Stewardess handed her one. Ash then sat back down and handed one of the water bottles to Dawn and gave Pikachu his. Ash then sat back down and Pikachu hopped onto his lap. Just as he was about to take a sip, he, Dawn, and John heard the three Legendary Bird Pokémon shout from their Pokéballs, " _DON'T DRINK THE WATER_!" Ash stopped, as did Dawn, and the two stopped Piplup and Pikachu. Ash put the Water Bottle down and said that he was going to the bathroom and told Pikachu not to drink the water. Pikachu obeyed, Dawn told Piplup the same thing and Piplup also obeyed. Ash then entered the Bathroom, Ash took the Pokéball Moltres was in and asked, "What's wrong Moltres?" and Moltres said, " _The Water has some kind of odorless, fragrenceless, and Tasteless chemical added in it, we only knew it because we sensed it's presence. It's a mind controlling Substance."_ Ash nodded his head and after exiting the bathroom, sat back down, leaned over to her, and whispered, "The Pokémon sensed a mind controlling substance in the water. We can't drink the water or else we can get mind controlled, and I'm thinking that it's in all the drinks, the food too." Ash looked at John and Lillie, who nodded their heads and didn't order anything to drink or anything to eat. John then told James the same thing and he too didn't eat anything or drank everything.

After picking up people in Hoenn and in SInnoh, the plane was finally on its way to the Truven Region. As the Plane flew the last leg of the flight, the stewardess walked up to ASh and asked him if he liked anything to drink or eat and ASh said, "No thank you. I am good for the rest of the trip." The stewardess frowned and walked away to the phone and dialed a number and was speaking to someone on the other end and she kept looking at Ash, who whispered to Dawn, "I don't like the way that Stewardess is looking at me. Only you, Piplup, Pikachu, myself, John, James, Lillie, and Snowy didn't eat or drink this entire flight, but everyone else ate or drank something. Ash then said, "As soon as we get off the Plane, we make a break for it." Dawn nodded her head and Ash wrote the same thing on a piece of paper and gave it to John, who showed it to Lillie and James, who were also on board with Ash's plan. Soon , the captain came back on to tell them that they were beginning their descent into the Divine Region and into Ansshire City International Airport.

The Pilot then said, "Also, the local Police will be on the Tarmac to take a few passengers into Custody for breaking a law that states that all passengers entering the Divine Region are to eat or drink something on our planes." Ash and his friends immediately realized that the Pilot was talking about them, and they knew that they needed to get away from the plane as soon as it landed. Ash told Dawn to use Togekiss to get James out, John and Lillie can use Zapdos, and Ash would use Charizard to get Dawn and himself out of there. Dawn nodded her head and Ash told James, John, and Lillie the same thing. Soon the Fasten seatbelts light came on and everyone buckled in, all except for Ash, Dawn, James, John, and Lillie, who just braced themselves when the tires hit the ground and when they did, they were shaken up a little but as the plane slowed to a crawl, Ash, Dawn, James, John, and Lillie immediately got up and ran for the exit and opened the door and called out the Pokémon they were going to use and immediately got on them and flew away as the local Police vehicles pulled up and saw them escape.

 **|X| A FEW HOURS LATER**

As night fell on Ansshire City, the Police were out in force looking for Ash, Dawn, John, Lillie, and James as they stuck to the shadows and Alleyways as they slowly made their way towards the outskirts. As they stopped to catch their breath in one Alleyway, Ash said, "This place is definitely strange." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, the Truven Region was strange. Dawn then asked Ash, "What are we going to do now Ash?" and before Ash even said anything, a nearby Door opened and someone who looked like a chef walked out with a Trash bag and saw Ash and his friends, and everyone just stood still before the man said, "POLICE!" Ash then shouted, "RUN!" and everyone ran out of the Alleyway and past people as nearby Police Officers tried to catch them. As they continued running, Lillie had Snowy use **Ice beam** to trip the Officers up and she obeyed, and a sheet of Ice formed and the officers slipped on it. Ash and everyone then ducked into another Alleyway as the Police ran in the direction they thought they went. As Ash and the others breathed a sigh of relief, another Door opened and someone poked their head out and the person said, "In here, quickly."

Not having much of a Choice, Ash and the others went through the door and the person who called them closed it behind them. The Person then said, "I'm glad I got to you before the Police caught you guys." Ash grabbed the person and asked, "Who are you and what the hell is going on here?" The person told Ash and his friends, "My name is Peter, I assume you came here looking for someone while battling the Gym leaders?" Ash looked at his friends before looking back at Peter and said, "We are here looking for someone." Pater then said, "That's what I thought, I came to this region to find my Sister, Hilda. She came to this to compete against the gyms but my family didn't hear from her for months before I arrived. Did you eat any food or drink anything from the plane before you landed?" Ash and his friends shook their heads no, causing Peter to say, "Good, from what I gathered it's how they get you. Can you kindly let go of me now?" Ash released Peter so he could continue, "They've added some kind of chemical that allows the leader of this Cult-like Organization to control them, that's why Police turn a blind eye to crimes, they're under the control of the leader and those crimes are committed in the name of this Cult." Peter went on to say that the Cult Leader and his four second in commands were the Regions Champion and Elite Four.

"Even the Gyms are controlled by the Cult. People who travel to the first gym all the way away from here get defeated at the gym and captured to become servants of the Cult. Those who were lucky enough to escape capture from the first Gym tried to fight back, formed a Resistance, of which I joined. The resistance was doing good at first, but spies for the Cult eventually caused the almost complete Annihilation of the Turven Resistance." Ash crossed his arms as John said, "So people were fighting back, that's good, meaning there could be people still fighting now, how long ago did the Resistance form?" and Peter told John, "It formed about two years ago, a year later, like I said before, spies for the Cult eventually caused the almost complete Annihilation of the Turven Resistance." Ash sat down as James and John talked about reforming the Resistance and James said, "You raised a good point John, we can reform the Resistance and free the region." John nodded his head, looked at Peter and said, "But the question of which I'm sure Ash is thinking of, how can we be sure that the Resistance even Existed." Peter took out his phone and played a video. In the Video, it showed Trainers in a line to a table with people in army clothes sitting at it and after one trainer wrote his name down, the soldier looking man stood up, extended his hand and said, "Welcome to the resistance." Dawn asked Peter if he filmed the video, to which he nodded his head.

Ash stood up and said, "Peter, I assumed you've been everywhere in this region." and Peter nodded his head. Peter then said, "When the Truven Resistance was still a threat to the Cult, I've been stationed everywhere. Now all that's left of the Resistance is me, and a few cells left in small Isolated towns and the mountains." Ash nodded his head as he process the information Peter told him, Dawn, John, Lillie, and James and heard John say, "We're looking for a man named Gary Oak, have you seen him?" Peter got a look of Shock on his face before he said, "Yes, I've seen him, in fact, he and I joined the resistance at the exact same time." Ash stopped thinking when he heard that and asked Peter where he last saw Gary and Peter said, "Last time I saw him was right after the Cell we were a part of got attacked by the 'Divine' regional Army and we were almost all captured, but I lost track of him when the cell was wiped out. I made my way back here to hopefully stay out of the eyes of the Leader, that was when I heard about five people refusing to eat the food or drink anything from Divine Airlines flight 503. I knew that if I got to you first, I can help you out of the City and make sure you stay safe." but James said, "If what you said is true, it's only a matter of time before we're captured Ash."

"I know James, and I think we need to free this Region." replied Ash. Dawn grabbed Ash's hand and said, "If you think we should fight, then I'm with you." John just rolled his eyes before he sia, "If you're going to fight back, then I'm with you brother." Lillie and James looked at each other, nodded their heads, and told Ash that they were with him too. But Peter wasn't and he said, "It's pointless to fight back, once you get enough forces, Spies for the Government will infiltrate your forces and your resistance will be completely wiped out, you need to go before it's too late." that was when Ash shook his head and said, "No, I told Professor Oak that we're not leaving the Truven Region before we found Gary and bring him home, if that means we have to fight the entire region, so be it. As of this moment, The Truven Resistance is beginning it's resurrection." John,James, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads in agreement and Peter said, "Your funerals, I'll get you out of the City and into the forest. but from that point on, you guys are on your own."

As the heat died down for a while in Ansshire City, Peter led Ash and his friends out of the room they were in and into the sewers and led them through them, along the way, Ash, Dawn, John, Lillie, and James saw a bunch of grimers and Rattatas and one Rattata ran up to Lillie and hopped onto her shoulder. Ash smiled and said, "Seems like that one's friendly Lillie." Lillie smiled, looked at the Rattata and said, "Hello." and the Rattata waved and said, "Rattata (Hello to you too.)" John then told Lillie what Rattata said and gave her some Pokémon food designed for Rattatas and after she gave the Rattata some, a wild Kanto Muk appeared. Ash sent Pikachu, Dawn sent Piplup, and the Rattata that was on Lillie's shoulder hopped off and stood next to Pikachu and Piplup. Lillie then scanned the Rattata with her Pokédex and the Pokédex said, "Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon. The Kanto Variant is a normal type, Its whiskers provide it with a keen sense of smell, enabling it to pick up the scent of hidden food and locate it instantly. This Rattata is a female and knows **Dark Pulse** , **Ice Beam** , **Hyper Fang** , and **Thunderbolt**."

"Strong little guy, Lillie, since he was on your shoulder, you need to call it's commands." John said to Lillie and she nodded her head and asked Ash for the first move, and Ash said, "Go for it." Lillie smiled, looked towards the Pokémon and said, "Rattata, Use **Thunderbolt** into **Ice Beam**." Rattata obeyed and used Thunderbolt first and then Ice beam and the two moves combined to form an **Electric Ice Beam** that struck the Muk that not only froze part of it but also Paralyzed it too. Ash then told Pikachu to use **Thunderbolt** too and Dawn told Piplup to use **Bubblebeam**. The two Pokémon obeyed and Pikachu's **Thunderbolt** combined with Piplups **Bubblebeam** to create an **Electric Bubble** that struck Muk again, causing it to retreat under the water. John clapped his hands and said, "Two new combined attacks, nice job you guys." Ash, Dawn, and Lillie smiled as Peter said, "They more than Likely heard the battle from the streets, we need to get moving." Ash nodded his head and everyone moved away from the recent battle site as Rattata hopped back onto Lillie's shoulder and she said, "Thank you Rattata, how would you like to join me?" and Rattata nodded his head. Lillie then took out a Pokéball and held it close to Rattata and Rattata pushed the button with his nose and he went inside it, after three shakes and a ding, Lillie caught Rattata. Peter and James were impressed and James said, "That has to be the quickest way to get a new Pokémon." Lillie smiled and told James, "I was given this gift from Arceus a year before Ash came to the Alola Region, and he told me that any Pokémon is immediately friendly with me." Ash, Dawn, and John smiled and John said, "I was wondering why Cleffa came back." Lillie smiled and said, "Yeah, there's your answer."

"Enough talking, we're almost out of here." said Peter. Soon they arrived at a grate and Peter opened it. Peter then said, "If you're going to restart the Resistance, then I suggest you head to the Town where the first Gym is located, the old main base is located there." Ash nodded his head and said, "We were going to head there anyway, where was the base located?" and Peter told him, "Look under the Pokémon Center, the Nurse Joy in charge of the center was loyal to the resistance." Ash nodded his head and asked John how far was it from Ansshire City and John said, "Pretty far, we have to go through the entire Region to get to the first Gym, meaning it will take us a few days to get there. Not only that, but since we're wanted for a stupid as law, we can't risk buying items from the Pokémarts." That was when Peter said, "There's no need, there are black market shops in every town, set up by the resistance to get items to help the rebellion." Ash nodded his head and thanked Peter for his help. Peter told him, "I just got you out of the City, but like I said, I'm not rejoining the Resistance,"

"It's your choice Peter, we're not going to force you," said Ash. Ash then looked at his friends and said, "Let's get going, the sooner this Cult is defeated, the Sooner we find Gary and get him home to Professor Oak." James, John, Dawn, and Lillie nodded their heads and they exited the Sewers of Ansshire City to head to the Town where the first Gym was located and begin their rebuilding of the Truven resistance to free the Region and its people, the War against the Cult would be long and costly, but Ash, Dawn, John, Lillie, and James all knew what they were getting into and were going to fight for the region's freedom.

Times Ash is mentioned: 86

Times John is mentioned:42

Ash-to-John Ratio: 2.04

( **A.N.: Completely forgot to add this in.** )


End file.
